Security personnel intervened in a peaceful sit-in of journalists, who were demanding reinstatement of journalist Shiva Regmi at the Metro FM - a radio operated by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) - in the Capital city of Kathmandu on May 6, 2013.
Jeevan Bhandari, a journalist with Kathmandu-based Nepal Bani FM had his leg fractured in the police action while others sustained minor injuries.
The accident took place when police prevented journalists who had reached to the office of the KMC from entering the office, demanding reinstatement of their colleague Shiva Regmi to his office.
Police barred journalists from organizing a sit-in protest at the main gateof office and pushed them back. Journalist Regmi who had been working at the Metro FM (94.6) megahertz for the past ten years was sacked by the FM management a month ago.
Bhandari is undergoing treatment at Model Hospital, Kathmandu.The agitating journalists have accused the Metro FM of sacking Regmi without any reason while FM management said journalist Regmi was not maintaining official discipline being irregular to office.
Talking to the media monitoring desk at Freedom Forum over the telephone from the hospital, Bhandari said, 'The KMC management opted to dodge them by even not receiving their memorandum addressed to KMC Kedar Bahadur Adhikari'.
Freedom Forum condemns the brazen attack of security personnel on journalists, who were staging peaceful sit-in to have asserted their right to demand professional security. The Forum asks the government to investigate into the incident and bring those guilty security personnel to book.
For more information,
Freedom Forum
monitoring@freedomforum.org.np
01-4102030/ 4102022