Freedom Forum is concerned over an incident where Acting Chief District Officer of Surkhet district Ms. Binita Bhattarai threatened journalists while staging a peaceful protest at District Administrative Office Surkhet.
The incident occurred on April 19, 2019. Surkhet district lies in Karnali Province of Nepal.
According to information shared by FF's representative for the province Laxmi Bhandari, journalists were barred from sitting on a peaceful protest inside DAO premises.
The journalists had gathered to press the government and concerned authority to withdraw the case against journalist Arjun Giri who was charged under the Electronic Transaction Act 2008.
CDO Bhattarai released a circular stating 'no entry' for journalists into the office and also called security officials to obstruct the protest.
Recently, FF has recorded several incidents of arrests and detention of journalists on the ground of ETA 2008 which is severe breach of press freedom as well as freedom of expression. Hence, FF urges the concerned authority to respect the fundamental rights guaranteed in the constitution and ensure secure atmosphere for FoE practitioners.
For more information,
Freedom Forum
01-4102030/ 4102022
monitoring@freedomforum.org.np