Photo:- Suraj Khadka Facebook page
Yet again, journalists have been targeted while covering a protest in the federal capital of Nepal, Kathmandu. The incident took place on March 28.
Five journalists covering the protest organized by the political party Communist Party of Nepal-UML were manhandled. The affected journalists include Daya Dudraj from Kantipur National Daily; Kaushal Kaphle and Prasun Sangraula from Onlinekhabar.com; Ashish Guragain from Ratosurya.com; and Suraj Khadka from Nplpress.com. They were manhandled by party cadres while reporting at the party’s central office in Lalitpur, Bagmati Province.
Speaking to Freedom Forum, reporter Kaphle said that he, along with Dudraj and Sangraula, had reached the party office premises at around 1:00 pm to cover news related to a committee meeting following the arrest of former Prime Minister and party's chair K. P. Sharma Oli. A group of party cadres chased them away from the premises.
"As we approached with our mobile phones to take photos of cadres burning tyres, they again shoved us and verbally abused us, shouting, ‘Where were your cameras when the nation was burning?’” Kaphle added. “They were so enraged at the time that I felt somewhat fearful to continue reporting", he said.
In a separate incident, Khadka was also manhandled while covering party cadres' protest in Babarmahal, Kathmandu. His camera was damaged and his hand injured. Similarly, Guragain was manhandled when he questioned cadres about their abuse of journalists. He fell to the ground during the incident.
Freedom Forum vehemently condemns the intimidation against journalists. It is deeply concerning that media professionals on the frontlines continue to face such risks while covering public unrest. Freedom Forum strongly urges all the concerned parties to respect journalists’ right to report freely and to exercise restraint toward media professionals. Journalists are also advised to adopt adequate safety measures while covering protests.
For more,
Freedom Forum
monitoring@freedomforum.org.np