| February
3, 2005 - News |
| RSF |
|
King
imposes state of emergency and cuts communications with outside world
|
The
king has still not had communications re-established. State-run radio announced
on 2 February that all negative reports on the declaration of a state of
emergency and the dismissal of the government have been banned for six
months. The official daily Gorkhapatra also published a statement on its
front page banning "all writing or opposition to the royal proclamation
for six months".
The
military is in charge of censorship of state-run television programmes
while officers have been posted in the newsrooms of the main public and
privately-owned media, including Kantipur. The Federation of Nepalese Journalists
(FNJ) said that the army had also put the weekly Janaastha, under surveillance.
The newspaper has been critical of both the palace and the army.
Press
agency Reuters said hotel proprietors had refused to let foreign television
crew place satellite dishes on the roofs of their buildings. Most of the
capital's cybercafés remain closed on the order of the authorities.
The FNJ has spoken out against what it called "a coup against democracy"
and called on journalists to fight with courage and determination to guarantee
the Nepalese people their right to news and information.
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