Chief reporter with the Saptahik weekly, Aswini Koirala, was issued death threat over a news story he published in the online news portal – www.ekantipur.com- on July 8. The Saptahik weekly is published from the capital city and it is the sister publication of Kantipur Publications.
The news story was about the harassment of a female actor by an employment agent in Japan. Both the female actor and employment agent are Nepalis.
Talking to Freedom Forum's media monitoring desk, reporter Koirala said, "I had written the news story by garnering information from both sides. But the employment agent named Anuj Shakya threatened me over facebook."
"Although I'm in Japan, I can mobilize the group to finish you off at any time because you ruined my career. Why did you exaggerate the news," said reporter quoting the agent.
According to the reporter, the employment agent Shakya is in the wanted list of police, for he had defrauded many Nepalis aspiring jobs in Japan.
Freedom Forum vehemently condemns the incident as it has violated the press freedom. It has breached journalists' right to free reporting. The concerned authority (Nepali) is therefore urged to be aware if any threat is made against reporter Koirala in Nepal following the agent's intimidation.
For More Information
Freedom Forum
Thapathali, Kathmandu
Post Box No: 24292
Phone No. 4102030, 4102022
Website: www.nepalpressfreedom.org; www.freedomforum.org.np
Email: monitoring@freedomforum.org.np; info@freedomforum.org.np;