On-duty officer of Nepal Army (NA) obstructed two journalists, Krishna Thapa and Bishwamitra Khanal while they were going through Nepal-China border Timure to collect information through audio-visual aids.
Journalists Thapa and Khanal are associated to the Kantipur National Daily and and Rooprekha Weekly. Captain of Indrabaks battalion of Timure Post Rebanta KC had prevented them of entering into the area with video camera and still photo camera saying it was the order from high command.
According to the security personnel, the decision of prohibiting cameras inside the area was made after the pictures and videos of under-construction Syafrubensi- Rasuwagadhi roadway were published and broadcasted in different Medias reflecting the negative aspects of the works.
Freedom Forum condemns both the incidents and asks the government to make its stance clear on journalist's right to discharge their duty in a free and fair environment. The act of harassing and prohibiting journalists during their work would not be tolerable in open society as it is the right of the journalist to expose the reality and impart objective information to people.
For more information,
Freedom Forum
monitoring@freedomforum.org.np
01-4102030/ 4102022