US criticizes the govt’s raid on Radio Sagarmatha
Criticising Nepal's royal government for the crackdown on the first community radio station in South Asia and arrest of journalists, the US on Monday has asked His Majesty King Gyanendra to "move quickly" towards restoring multi-party democracy in the country, a news agency report said.
"The United States is disappointed and concerned the state authorities' seizure of radio equipment from Radio Sagarmatha on November 27. This is the second time in five weeks such an incident has occurred," a senior State Department official told the Press Trust of India.
Underscoring that "free media is one of the hallmarks of a democratic nation", the official said "restricting publication or broadcast of news does not create an environment in which free and fair elections can take place." "The re-establishment of a democratic government united against the Maoist insurgency is the best path to restoring pace and the US calls on the King and the Government to move quickly toward restoring multi-party democratic institutions protecting civil and human rights and reaching out to the political parties in dialogue," the official added.
Nepal's royal government raided Sagarmatha FM station in Lalitpur district Sunday night charging it with aiding terrorism, arrested five media persons and seized transmission equipment to prevent it from broadcasting an interview by Maoist supremo Prachanda given to BBC Nepali Service.
The journalists and technician have been freed but the government is yet to return the seized equipment.
Radio Sagarmatha is still off air after the government’s raid.
The government’s action came barely a week after King Gyanendra highlighted the role of information technology for the development of a least developed country like Nepal at the World Summit of Information Society in Tunisia. nepalnews.com by Nov 29 05
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