KATHMANDU: The trade unions of Bottlers Nepal Limited have clarified and refuted allegations against them and the company in relation to threatening a Nepali journalist.

Issuing a press statement Thursday, All Nepal Industrial Trade Workers, Nepal Factory Workers Union, and General Federation of Nepalese Trade Union have said, “BNL refutes the baseless allegations made by certain sections of the press against trade union workers and the company’s management. The trade union members are concerned about the false allegations made on the trade unions in news articles being published.” It added, “There seems to be a mala fide intent to damage the reputation of the trade union and Bottlers Nepal Limited.”

About two weeks ago, a journalist had lodged a protest at the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) stating that he felt there was a threat to his life for publishing a follow-up news article related to Bottlers Nepal.

Subsequently, the FNJ had drawn attention to the issue and sought a probe into the incident and action against the guilty, if found.

The issue was taken up by several media following the FNJ statement.

The FNJ statement on July 17 said that the management of Bottlers Nepal threatened trade union representatives and instructed trade union officials to straighten things out with a media outlet after it published news related to 73 percent shares of Bottlers Nepal being traded abroad without the knowledge of Nepali authorities last year.