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Your Excellency,

Reporters Sans Frontières, an independent organisation working to defend freedom of the press worldwide, wishes to protest at the arrests of several journalists.

According to our sources, on 5 January, after a raid on the office of the weekly Janadesh, Nepali police arrested 13 people including four journalists in Katmandu: the journalists have been identified as Rebati Sapkota, editor of the weekly Mahima, Shakti Lamsal, consulting editor of the weeklies Janadesh and Yojana, Dhana Bahadur Magar, office manager of the weeklies

Janadesh and Yojana, and Ashok Subedi, a freelance journalist working for The Himalaya Times. According to sources, police did not carry any arrest warrant and seized printing materials and computers. They also raided the Indreni Offset Press office where Janadesh is printed. The journalists seem to be accused of "having links with Maoists". In its 5 January issue, Janadesh

published the pictures of two policemen reported killed by members of the Maoist movment.

On 6 January, police were still looking for the editors of the weekly, who have gone into on hiding.

Reporters Sans Frontières wishes to remind you that Nepal has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 19 of which guarantees the freedom to inform and to be informed.

Reporters Sans Frontières respectfully asks you to ensure that the journalists arrested are immediately released if they exercised their duties or expressed their opinions peacefully and in compliance with the law. We also ask you to ensure that the charges are cleared and that the accusation of "being Maoist" is not used as a pretext to crack down on opposition or independent newspapers.

Yours faithfully,

Robert Ménard

Secretary General

For further information, please contact the Asia desk.

http://www.rsf.fr