Dekendra Raj Thapa

Lau Tzu once said: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. In Nepal, getting to that first step has been a tumultuous process. Tomorrow, a court in the western district of Dailekh is expected to formally begin hearings in the 2004 murder case of journalist Dekendra Raj Thapa.

New York, January 24, 2013--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the threats and acts of intimidation against journalists in Nepal during Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai's visit on Wednesday to the western district of Dailekh.

New York, January 8, 2013--Nepalese Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai today publicly criticized the arrest of five of his party members who stand accused of the 2004 murder of radio journalist Dekendra Raj Thapa, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the arrests and calls on the prime minister to allow due process to take its course.

CPJ’s Impunity Index spotlights countries
where journalists are slain and killers go free

New York, March 23, 2009 -- The already murderous conditions for the press in Sri Lanka and Pakistan deteriorated further in the past year, the Committee to Protect Journalists has found in its newly updated Impunity Index, a list of countries where journalists are killed regularly and governments fail to solve the crimes. Colombia, historically one of the world’s deadliest nations for the press, improved as the rate of murders declined and prosecutors won important recent convictions.

Nepal made a historic shift in 2008 from a monarchy to a coalition-ruled democratic republic under the leadership of a former Maoist guerrilla. Journalists’ uncertainty about the ex-rebel leader’s newfound legitimacy was apparent as they struggled to find a way to refer to him in print. Most hedged their bets and used his given name, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, which identified him as a Brahmin at the top of the Hindu caste system, alongside his ethnically neutral but aggressive-sounding nom de guerre, Prachanda, or “fierce one.”

New York, September 19, 2005— The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the arrest today of a reporter with Kantipur publications in the mid-western district of Dailekh from which 15 independent journalists fled after being harassed by the military for their reporting of Nepal's civil war. Authorities detained Harihar Singh Rathour, correspondent for the Kathmandu Post and Kantipur, without charge, media sources told CPJ. He has not been allowed visits.

New York, July 11, 2005—Maoist rebels on Saturday released Som Sharma, a reporter in eastern Nepal’s Ilam district who was abducted from his home nearly two months ago. Maoist leaders also called off the house arrest of Ilam-based reporter Umesh Gurung, calling their actions against him a “mistake,” according to local news reports

Sharma, a reporter for the weekly Aankha, had been in Maoist custody since May 13. Sharma’s release followed negotiations on his behalf by the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), who sent a delegation to meet with local Maoist leaders. FNJ central committee member Purna Basnet told The Associated Press that Sharma was targeted in response to his critical reporting on Maoist activities in the area.

Nepal After the Coup

Kathmandu, Nepal, April 12, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the government of Nepal to end the harassment and imprisonment of journalists and to repeal restrictions imposed on private media in the wake of King Gyanendra's February 1 emergency proclamation.

During a press conference in Kathmandu at the end of a weeklong fact-finding mission, CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper urged the immediate release of all imprisoned journalists and an immediate halt to a series of actions taken under the emergency order that have stifled or silenced independent reporting by print and broadcast media.