KATHMANDU: Press Council Nepal (PCN) has expressed serious concern over reports that plainclothes police personnel entered the newsrooms of several media outlets, detained journalists and attempted to arrest them.
The Council strongly objected to the actions, which reportedly took place after office hours on Friday, ahead of two consecutive public holidays.
It said taking journalists into custody without providing clear grounds for arrest, presenting an arrest warrant, obtaining court authorization or disclosing the nature of the criminal complaint amounted to a serious threat to press freedom and journalists’ professional security.
The Council also recalled that it is legally mandated to investigate, monitor and address complaints arising from media content, disputes over published news and alleged violations of the journalistic code of conduct.
It urged the Government of Nepal, police authorities and other concerned parties to follow the Council’s established mechanisms and procedures to resolve such disputes rather than directly resorting to police intervention.
Furthermore, the Council demanded the immediate disclosure of the detained journalists’ status and the legal grounds for their arrest. It also called for their immediate release if they were being held without a valid legal basis.
At the same time, the Council urged media organizations and journalists to strictly adhere to the journalistic code of conduct and ensure that all published content is accurate, factual and evidence-based.
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