It is worrying that the district court Kathmandu extended detention period of Right to Information activists Ashmita Khatri, Adharsha Chhetri, Raju Sunar and Prem Shrestha on June 23. They were arrested based on a complaint on June 18. Deputy Superintendent of Police at the Police Circle, Raju Pande informed Freedom Forum that they were charged with ‘Fraud and Organized crime’. Pande however declined to share further reasoning that the case was under investigation. On June 23, District Court Kathmandu extended the activists’ remand to custody for three more days for further investigation. The activists sought information at the Gokarneshwor municipality using RTI and have been raising voice against the corruption at the municipality. The harassment and detention of RTI activists is a serious violation of citizens’ constitutional right to information. RTI activists are watchdogs for good governance. FF believes they were held on false allegations. They must be released unconditionally, FF demands. -Update- On June 28, the court ordered police to release six activists reasoning lack of evidence to keep them in police custody. Hewever, the court has asked them to appear whenever summoned at the court. (This page was last updated on June 29.)
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.
