Col Lama to be presented in British court today

Nepal Army Colonel Kumar Lama, who was been detained in the UK, is to be presented to the Metropolitan Magistrate for a hearing on Thursday.

The Nepal government has hired Kingsley Napley, a British law firm that had defended former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, to handle Lama's case, according to reports. The defence lawyers are to demand bail for Lama and his subsequent repatriation to Nepal.

Earlier, Nepal government had provided 50,000 pounds to hire prominent lawyers to defend Lama's case. Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai had also written a letter to the British Prime Minister, requesting for the Colonel's release, but the British government has not yet responded to the letter.

Lama, who was deployed in South Sudan as an observer in the UN mission, was arrested by UK police three weeks earlier on charges of human rights violations during the Maoist insurgency. nepalnews.com