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Alert

Maoist activists prevent journalists from covering peace talks at prime minister's residence

(CEHURDES/IFEX) - CEHURDES, a Kathmandu-based media rights monitoring agency, condemns the mistreatment by Maoist activists of journalists who had gathered in front of the prime minister's official residence to cover the news of crucial peace talks.

On October 15, 2006, dozens of journalists had gathered at the talks venue where the summit meeting between the government and the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-Maoists) was underway.

However, Maoist cadres wearing red bandannas stopped journalists from going near the entrance gate of the prime minister's residence and some pro-Maoist demonstrators chanted slogans against the journalists.

The journalists then boycotted the meeting and got together to condemn the incident. Subsequently, Maoist leaders approached the journalists and apologized for the incident.

President of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) Bishnu Nishthuri also arrived at the incident site and expressed solidarity with the journalists. "I condemn the Maoists' misbehaviour. The government is also responsible for not making proper preparations to facilitate the the journalists' [work]," Nishthuri said.

"The FNJ also condemns this incident and draws the attention of the Maoists to their previous commitments to respect press freedom," he added.

CEHURDES also wants to draw the attention of the authorities to the need to make proper preparations for the journalists in the coming days so that they can better perform their role in meeting people's right to information.