Journalists were harassed and briefly taken under control while reporting on the alleged fraud of an employment company in Kaski, Gandaki Province, on November 17 .
Journalists Bijay Nepali, Suresh Sunar, Arjun Hitang, and Bishnu Bishwakarma had reached the branch office of Amitya Global Employment Services to collect the recruitment authorities’ response to victims’ complaints of fraud. The reporters also met victims in the office premises and recorded their complaints.
Journalist Bijay Nepali is associated with Dhorpatan daily, Arjun Hitang with Kaski Khabar, Suresh Sunar and Bishnu Bishwakarma are affiliated with Mero Saathi TV.
After the reporters recorded videos of the victims inside the office premises, they went to meet the office’s Director Dinesh Magar. “We along with the victims were in the room and the victims started sharing their problems. Meanwhile, we noticed that the room was getting crowded. Those entering the room started shouting at us”, said reporter Nepali, adding, “They looked like goons. They shouted at us asking with whose permission we recorded the video. One of my colleagues told them we had been there to know about the victims’ complaint. It made them further aggressive, prompting the threat of locking up in the room.”
Then, they ordered us to delete the footage we had recorded of victims. For our safety, we deleted all the recordings and apologized to them, the journalist explained.
The reporters were released only after the confirmation that footages were deleted and the victims were also forced to promise that they would not visit the office again or make complaints.
Freedom Forum condemns the actions of the recruitment officers. The incident is a gross violation of press freedom.
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