Kathmandu: Journalists staged a protest at Maitighar in Kathmandu early on Saturday morning, defying the rain, to condemn police raids on media houses and the arrest of a journalist directly from a newsroom. The protest was organised at the call of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), whose members displayed placards objecting to what they described as government policies against press freedom. The FNJ had called for a silent demonstration against the arrest of journalists, raids on media houses and activities aimed at intimidating journalists.
Source: Peoples' Review
On Friday, plainclothes police entered the newsroom of Nepal Press and took journalist Bishwamani Subedi away for questioning over news content, according to news agency ANI. Subedi was later released in the evening. Police also took Shobhraj Baral of Motivate News and Dhiraj Basnet of DN Khabar from their newsrooms on Friday, and police teams visited the offices of Naya Patrika Daily, looking for journalist Navaraj Mainali, and of the online outlet Diyo Post, reports said. Superintendent of Police Deepak Awasthi of the Cyber Bureau confirmed that Subedi and several others had been brought in for questioning.
Source: ANI via Devdiscourse
Press Council Nepal said police showed no arrest warrant or court order, and that complaints about published news belong with the council, not the police. FNJ general secretary Ram Prasad Dahal described the raids as state terror. The prime minister's press adviser Deepa Dahal said Prime Minister Balen Shah had expressed concern over police entering media offices and ordered the authorities to stop the raids and free everyone held, and Communications Minister Bikram Timilsina said all detained journalists had been released and the government is fully committed to press freedom.
Source: Nepal Wire (reporting OnlineKhabar and Nepal Press)
Accounts of how the operation began conflict. The Prime Minister's Secretariat said the office was neither involved in the incident nor had prior knowledge of it. Nepal Police, in a statement issued around midnight on Friday, said its Cyber Bureau had called some journalists to seek information about the accuracy and legal basis of reports following concerns raised by the Prime Minister's Office. The Saturday protest at Maitighar was addressed by former FNJ senior vice-president and adviser Ramesh Bista and journalist Devendra Chudal, among others, and Subedi told the gathering he had reached a situation where he was being handcuffed despite having fought for press freedom and the Constitution.
Source: Daily Informiq; Peoples' Review