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Prime Minister’s Comment On Murderers Of Journalist Provoked Anger
By KTM Metro Reporter
January 9, 2013: at the 19th central committee meeting today, Chairman of CPN-UML Jhalnath Khanal accused the UCPN-Maoist of being the hindrance to building a consensus, also condemned the prime minister’s remarks on the murder case of Dailkekh’s journalist Dekhendra Thapa, according to THT ONLINE news of today.
The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) today expressed serious concern over the remarks of the Prime Minister that he expressed yesterday, in a way to influence the investigation and prosecution of the journalist Thapa's murder case. The FNJ has decided to form a high-level team to monitor any irregularities in the prosecution of the alleged murderers of journalist Dekendra Raj Thapa, and the increasing feeling of insecurity among the journalists in Dailekh. An emergency meeting of the central executive committee of the FNJ held in Kathmandu today demanded that the government constitute a high-level judicial commission on investigating the murders of journalists right from Krishnasen Icchuk to Yadav Poudel, according to the RSS news posted on thehimalayantimes.com of today.
In a statement released in Kathmandu yesterday, NC said that whilst the murderer had confessed that journalist Dekendra Thapa was murdered during the armed conflict and was buried alive, the direction from the Prime Minister to stop the interrogation was against human rights, and condemned the Prime Minister Bhattarai’s statement made yesterday that the arrest of the five Maoist cadres on the charge of murdering journalist Dekendra Thapa was a part of the plot to overturn the peace process. When the investigation of the ghastly incident of Dekendra Thapa’s murder was going at a steady pace, the government lawyer in the district and police had received threats from the UCPN-Maoist cadres ordering them to halt the investigation, which the NC highly disapproved, the statement further stated, according to THT ONLINE news of today.
Locals have held a sit-in protest in front of the Dailekh District Police Office today against the halt of the interrogation of alleged murderers of journalist Dekendra Thapa for the last two days and imposed chakka jam for two hours in the Dailekh Bazaar. The government lawyer in the district and police apparently received threats against continuing the investigation. Locals, members of Civil Service Society, students and journalists hit the streets demanding the restart of the interrogation. Locals came down heavily on the Prime Minister Bhattarai over his statement that the arrest of the five Maoist cadres on the charge of murdering journalist Dekendra Thapa was a part of the plot to disrupt the peace process, according to THT ONLINE news of today.
Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai today refuted the media reports on halting the interrogation of the alleged five murderers of journalist Dekendra Thapa on his order stating the media reports were baseless. He made it clear that his statement was the problem could not be resolved arresting individuals but all issues of the conflict era should be re-examined through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In a statement issued today, the Prime Minister’s secretariat informed that none of the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and security bodies and Maoists could be untainted if the individual arrest would be made for the wrong doings during the war period. Prime Minister is committed to end the impunity and booking the alleged assassins, the statement reads, according to THT ONLINE news of today. His cadres’ arrest would affect the peace process: Media reports today quoted the Prime Minister as saying while addressing a function in Kathmandu yesterday.
Police have stopped interrogating five Maoist cadres arrested for murdering journalist Dekendra Thapa in Dailekha following directives from the Office of the Attorney General and Nepal Police Headquarters, sources said. The Dailekh district government lawyer and local police 'have received threats' not to initiate legal process against the murder accused. Sources said Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai issued directives to the Office of Attorney General and police headquarters to stop interrogation. Five-murder accused arrested on Saturday were remanded to five days in custody on Sunday. Lakshiram Gharti, one of the accused, during the interrogation had admitted to the crime, saying he and others had buried Thapa alive. Police were planning to record the statements of other accused on Monday and Tuesday, which could not take place. "Government lawyer Dambar Kafle received threat from 'higher authorities' after Lakshiram admitted to killing the journo", the sources said, adding that DSP Sharada Prasad Chaudhary and Inspector Binod Sharma were also asked by 'higher authorities' to halt the interrogation. DSP Chaudhary declined to comment but said 'some unfavorable situation' had arisen. "Police will not work under any pressure," the DSP said., according to the news of ‘HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE’ of today.
The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) today condemned Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai for his "irresponsible" statement of the arrest of journalist Dekendra Thapa's murderers in Dailekh was a part of the plots to derail the peace process, and the state's alleged attempts to prevent the prosecution against them. An emergency meeting of the umbrella organization of Nepali journalists today condemned the Tuesday statement apropos of the Dailekh arrests and decided to submit a condemnation letter to the Prime Minister, according to THT ONLINE news of today.
The ruling UCPN-Maoist has formally condemned the arrest of five Maoist cadres on charge of murdering journalist DekendraThapa today. The party has said that the arrests of the alleged assassins of Thapa and incumbent Nepal Army Colonel Kumar Lama in Britain were the latest part of a ploy on peace and constitution writing campaign of anti national and international forces. In a press statement, spokesperson for UCPN-Maoist Agni Sapkota said that his party took the arrests as an ‘abrupt coincident.’ The party charged that the arrests was preplanned attempting to derail the peace process claiming it was against the spirit and sentiment of the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) and Interim Constitution of 2007. “His party has taken these incident seriously that occurred at a time when the nation is making efforts to resolve the Human Rights violation cases by both the then government and rebel forming a Truth and Reconciliation Commission,” the statement reads, according to THT ONLINE news of today.
A civil society group has condemned Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai's remarks that the arrest of the Maoist cadres accused of murdering Dailekh-based journalist Dekendra Thapa is against the peace process. In a joint press statement issued today, the civil society members - most of them human rights activists - also condemned the PM's "instruction" to local authorities not to go ahead with the investigation. They said such a statement from the country's executive head was the direct breach of the rule of law and that it would only further promote the culture of impunity. They also demanded that the PM Bhattarai withdraw his irresponsible order to the local authorities and apologize to the countrymen. They also demanded guarantee of security to journalists and human rights defenders, according to nepalnews.com news of today.
