Nepal police arrested, Achyut Tiwari, a Ward Chairperson from Parbat district over his social media post on September 14. Parbat lies in Gandaki Province of Nepal.
Local journalist Chhabi Tiwari informed Freedom Forum that Chairperson Tiwari had been writing on exploitation of Kali Gandaki River and alleged negligence of security in controlling it. On September 9, Chairperson Tiwari posted a status on his personal Facebook account mentioning his demand of action to those involved in illegal sand extraction, but the registration of complaint was denied by the district police office.
Based on his post, police persons arrested him under Section 47 of the Electronic Transaction Act (Cybercrime). Journalist Tiwari further informed that Chairperson Tiwari was arrested for allegedly assassinating the character of senior police officer in the district.
Freedom Forum talked to the Information Officer at the District Police Office (DPO) Parbat, Ram Prasad Sapkota to confirm on the case. Sapkota said on the day when the agitated protestors resorted to arson and vandalism at public spaces all over Nepal, Chairperson Tiwari wrote the status inciting further violence in Parbat. So, he was arrested and would be kept in detention at District Police Office till September 16 as per the court’s order, Sapkota informed.
Journalist Tiwari added that while the protestors vandalized few political parties’ office, they had not attacked District Police Office.
FF draws attention of the security authority on the case because it is a misuse of ETA Section 47. The case related to defamation should be addressed under the Civil Code rather than criminalizing citizens for social media post.
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