Kathmandu (AsiaNews) Police arrested almost 150 journalists in the last week "not for breaking any law but for performing their professional duties in reporting the facts, including the inhuman violence inflicted by security forces on strikers and protesters on April 6," said journalist Deependra Chauhan.
The number of journalists who experienced police violence "around the country has passed the 300 mark", he noted, adding that "even if the curfew in Kathmandu has been lifted, police repression goes on unchecked against any sign of protest."
"Early this morning the police took into custody 25 journalists who were protesting the government's attempt to curb press freedom," he said.
Various national media organizations like the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), Nepal Press Institute (NPI) and Press Chautari Nepal (PCN) have demanded the unconditional release of the detained journalists and expressed anger and concern over police brutality against journalists.
FNJ general secretary Mahendra Bista, who was also detained today, told AsiaNews last night that reporting, publishing and broadcasting have become very risky because of the government's repression. "It is shocking," she said, "that police and soldiers show so much hostility towards journalists and are not concerned that journalists are not involved in the strikes but simply objectively reporting them".
There are some 2,000 journalists in Nepal.
