Nepal

The news that BBC reporter Jonathan Head could face jail time in Thailand for alledgely insulting the Thai monarchy has recieved significant coverage over the holidays. Our alert on the incident from Wendesday has been cited in a number of outlets including The Associated Press, the UK-based Press Association, and the Irish Examiner. All three quoted CPJ's Asia Program Coordinator Bob Dietz as saying, "Head's reporting has raised important questions about Thailand's deteriorating political situation and he should be allowed to report without fear of official reprisals."

New York, December 22, 2008--Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's coalition government must carry out an open, independent, and nonpartisan investigation into Sunday's attack on Himalmedia in Kathmandu, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

CPJ's Impunity Index ranks countries where killers of journalists go free

New York, April 30, 2008 -- Democracies from Colombia to India and Russia to the Philippines are among the worst countries in the world at prosecuting journalists' killers according to the Impunity Index, a list of countries compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists where governments have consistently failed to solve journalists' murders.

JANUARY 17, 2008
Posted February 15, 2008

Manoj Sah, Freelance
ATTACKED

Sah was attacked by a group of at least 10 men wielding traditional Nepalese khukuri blades on January 17 in the city of Janakpur, eastern Nepal, according to local journalist Guna Raj Luitel and Ramesh Bista of the Federation of Nepali Journalists. Sah sustained serious injuries to the head and wrists and was transferred from the local hospital to Kathmandu where he underwent surgery, local news reports said.  

Journalist Deaths Hit Decade Peak
Half in Iraq; record number in Somalia

New York, November 5, 2007—Maoist authorities issued a statement today confirming the murder of Nepalese journalist Birendra Shah on October 4, the day he was kidnapped, by members of their party, according to Guna Raj Luitel, news editor of Kantipur Daily in Kathmandu.

The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) had distanced itself from the murder, which it called an individual and anarchic act by a district committee member, Lal Bahadur Chaudhary, and two associates. The three had described their involvement in the murder to the party by telephone, according to Luitel. They had previously been expelled from the party and would now face disciplinary action, Luitel said.

New York , October 12, 2007 – The Committee to Protect Journalists is increasingly concerned about the fate of missing journalist Birendra Shah as political pressure mounts in Nepal to find him. CPJ called for the release of Shah, who reports for Nepal FM, Dristi Weekly, and Avenues TV, on Wednesday. He was abducted by local Maoist cadres in Bara district in central Nepal, according to the Federation of Nepalese Journalists.