The Nepal Police has arrested another murder convict of journalist Dekendra Thapa- Hari Lal Pun from his residence in Dailekh district on December 15. Dailekh lies in Karnali Province of Nepal. Following the District Court Dailekh's verdict on December 7, 2014 to arrest nine perpetrators involved in the murder, five including Pun were arrested. But, Pun had fled before completing the remaining four months jail term, according to the police sources.* Journalist Thapa was abducted and subsequently killed by then CPN-Maoist cadres on August 10, 2004. He was abducted from Chhanna Bazar of Bhawani VDC on June 4, 2004. Lately, among other four fugitives Bam Bahadur Khadka was also taken into custody last March. Though late, it is laudable that the state is showing concern over long entrenched impunity for crimes against journalists in Nepal. It is worth mentioning that three murder convicts of journalist Birendra Sah and Dekendra Thapa have been arrested in the year 2020. FF further urges the concerned authority to pay a heed to other pending cases and cater justice to the victims' families. (*Note: Earlier in FF's report it was mistakenly mentioned that Pun had completed his jail term. Consider amendment: Ed.)
Freedom Forum is a prominent non-governmental organization in Nepal dedicated to institutionalizing democracy, protecting and promoting human rights, press freedom, freedom of expression, right to information, promoting audit accountability, open and accountable budget, public finance reforms, citizen engagement in public finance management and citizen participation in audit. Established in February 2005, the organization emerged in response to the political turmoil following Former King Gyanendra’s coup dated February 1, 2005, which imposed severe restrictions on media and democratic rights. A group of media professionals, legal experts, and academics founded Freedom Forum to safeguard Nepal’s hard-earned democratic freedoms during this repressive period.
