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Alert

Two media outlets threatened, newspaper's offices attacked

(FNJ/IFEX) - The Nepalese media has witnessed a series of attacks on media workers and media outlets over the past several days, most of them at the hands of ruling party unions. Just one day after an attack on the Himal Media group, Maoists' unions have threatened two other media houses: APCA Nepal and Kantipur publications.

Employees of APCA Nepal, which markets the "Himalayan Times" and "Annapurna Post" newspapers, came under threat by the Maoist's union on 22 December 2008, while Kantipur publications, which publishes the "Kantipur" and "Kathmandu Post" dailies, was warned by the head of the Young Communist League (YCL) the same day that it was their next target after Himal Media.

In a separate incident on 23 December, a group led by Ajay Kusawah, president of the Parsa district Youth Force, which is allied with the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML), attacked the Birgunj offices of the "Ankush" daily newspaper, destroying office equipment and burning files. Shatrughan Nepal, president of the FNJ's Parsa chapter, said that the group had attacked the paper's offices in response to a critical report published in the 21 December issue of "Ankush".

FNJ has strongly condemned the attacks on the media outlets and media workers and urges the government to punish all those involved.