Kathmandu, August 17:

The president of Nepal Bar Association (NBA), Shambhu Thapa, and chairman of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), Bishnu Nisthuri, refused to sit on a rights panel of the government under the chairmanship of Attorney General Pawan Kumar Ojha.

“At a time when the government is busy violating rule of law and rights of the people, I cannot join a committee formed by an autocratic government,” Thapa said. “I will not represent FNJ in the committee formed by a government which is busy violating rights of the people including press freedom,” Nisthuri said.

The government formed the committee with representatives from the Cabinet Secretariat and NGOs working in the rights front, and the chiefs of the press council, NBA and FNJ.