A complaint has been filed against reporter Dinesh Parajuli at the police office in Saptari. Reporter Parajuli is associated with https://www.sheershakhabar.com/ being run from Saptari, Madhesh Province.
Freedom Forum representative for the province Rajan Singh reported that a complaint regarding indecent behavior was registered at the Area Police Office, Kanchanpur, Saptari on January 23. The complaint was registered for Parajuli's reporting on a Member of Parliament CK Raut.
News relating to President of Janamat Party and MP Raut was first published on the news website on December 7 and then on January 8.
Following this, Parajuli was called by the party leader Umesh Das to a hotel. When reporter Parajuli arrived, around 4-5 of Raut’s supporters threatened him, warning him not to write any critical news about Raut or face consequences. Parajuli managed to escape possible assault.
Then, on January 22, Parajuli reported on MP Raut and his supporters being involved in the arrest of journalist Baidhyanath Yadav, following Yadav’s Facebook post accusing Raut for his arrest. Thereafter, another supporter, Shivanandan Mahato, called Parajuli to question why he published the news again. They had argument over the phone, after which Mahato filed a complaint at the police station. The case has also been registered with the Press Council Nepal.
Representative Singh further reported that Parajuli has been facing harassment from both police officers and political cadres. He has sought support from the concerned agencies.
Freedom Forum condemns the incident as it is violation of press freedom. Irrespective of seeking legitimate way of showing concern over news contents, the party has misused law to harass journalist which is deplorable.
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