Reporter with News 24, Riya Bhandari, and cameraperson Madhav Ghimire were manhandled by the staffs at Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre while recording bites and vox pop on March 29. News 24 is a television being broadcasted from the capital city Kathmandu.
During a telephonic conversation with Freedom Forum, reporter Bhandari stated, "Upon continuous invitation from the hospital's administration for reporting, we reached the venue at 2:00 pm. While we were waiting for the officers, some patients came to us and expressed their views and opinions about hospital service. As we were recording the bites and vox pop, the hospital staffs arrived and asked us to delete whatever we had recorded."
Adding further, Bhandari said that they also shoved her and the cameraperson for reporting, arguing that they were reporting without the permission of hospital administration.
Freedom Forum condemns the incident, for it is the violation of journalist's right to free reporting. The hospital administration must respect press freedom and help journalists report in free atmosphere.
For more Information
Freedom Forum
Thapathali, Kathmandu
Post Box No: 24292
Phone No. 4102030, 4102022
monitoring@freedomforum.org.np; info@freedomforum.org.np
Website: www.nepalpressfreedom.org; www.freedomforum.org.np