Nearly 100 journalists arrested in Nepal

[struggle4progress]

BINAJ GURUBACHARYA

Associated Press


KATMANDU, Nepal - Police arrested nearly 100 journalists Monday after scuffling with them during a protest to demand King Gyanendra immediately lift media restrictions in Nepal imposed four months ago. <snip>

Gyanendra seized control of this Himalayan kingdom Feb. 1, fired the government, and imposed a state of emergency, saying the restrictive measures were needed to quell the communist insurgency. He suspended civil liberties, including freedom of the press, and jailed hundreds of political prisoners. MBINAJ GURUBACHARYA

Associated Press


KATMANDU, Nepal - Police arrested nearly 100 journalists Monday after scuffling with them during a protest to demand King Gyanendra immediately lift media restrictions in Nepal imposed four months ago.

Meanwhile, the army said communist rebels killed at least six soldiers and two police patrolling near Ghartichap village in the mountains about 50 miles west of the capital, Katmandu. In the ensuing battle, six Maoist rebels were also killed.

Gyanendra seized control of this Himalayan kingdom Feb. 1, fired the government, and imposed a state of emergency, saying the restrictive measures were needed to quell the communist insurgency. He suspended civil liberties, including freedom of the press, and jailed hundreds of political prisoners.

The rebels, who claim to be inspired by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, have been fighting since 1996 to abolish Nepal's constitutional monarchy and set up a communist state. More than 11,500 people have died in the insurgency. <snip>

Protesters from the Federation of Nepalese Journalists were arrested as they marched into a restricted area near the royal palace, chanting: "Free the press! Withdraw censorship!"

Police bundled them into buses, and the detainees shattered some bus windows as they were driven away. Some protesters were injured in the scuffles. <snip>

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/11883321.htm


Protesters from the Federation of Nepalese Journalists were arrested as they marched into a restricted area near the royal palace, chanting: "Free the press! Withdraw censorship!"

Police bundled them into buses, and the detainees shattered some bus windows as they were driven away. Some protesters were injured in the scuffles.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

1. Guess which country has sent "advisors" to this conflict.

[landoisnum1]

2. How does this impact our country?

[struggle4progress]

3. FOCUS: Selling Weapons to the World

<snip> "U.S. Weapons at War," a study released this month by the New York City-based World Policy Institute, an affiliate of the New School University, finds that American weapons were sold to 18 nations currently involved in "active conflicts" -- from U.S.-backed operations against Islamists in the Philippines and narco-militarists in Colombia, to regional power struggles in Angola, Nepal, Algeria, Indonesia, India and Pakistan.

This comes in the same breath as a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which finds that in 2004 the nations of the world gave $1.035 trillion to the global arms industry -- up 25 percent from 2003.

The "primary driver" was the U.S., according to the BBC, which spent $235 billion on the war on terror from 2002-2004.

The United States is also one of the leading sellers of weapons. Some of its customers -- including Egypt and Saudi Arabia -- have been deemed undemocratic and abusive by the U.S. Department of State. <snip>

http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/000205.php

[David__77]

4. US hands off Nepal!

The US wants to prop up this monarch and his fascist regime. It's just like with Bush's friends in the Saudi royal family. "King" Gyanendra is a brutal tyrant arresting journalists, human rights activists and he even has the gall to proclaim himself a literal "god" before the people of Nepal. My best wishes to the progressives of Nepal.