PM Shah orders release of journalists detained in newsroom raids
Prime Minister Balen Shah has told the authorities to free journalists police detained on Friday and to stop entering newsrooms to detain reporters, his adviser said.
Prime Minister Balen Shah has instructed the authorities concerned to free the journalists police detained and to stop going into newsrooms to detain or harass reporters, according to his communications and research adviser, Deepa Dahal. Police took several journalists into custody from media offices on Friday, October 30.
Dahal said neither the Prime Minister, his secretariat nor the Prime Minister's Office had any part in the detentions, and that none of them had been told about the operations beforehand. The Prime Minister gave the instructions as soon as he learned what had happened, she said, as reported by OnlineKhabar and Kendrabindu.
According to Setopati and Kendrabindu, those detained on Friday included Bishwamani Subedi of Nepal Press, Dhiraj Basnet of DNKhabar and Shobhraj Baral of Motivate News. Both outlets also reported that plainclothes police went to the office of Naya Patrika. Setopati reported that plainclothes officers also visited the office of Diyo Post and asked about journalists there.