Kathmandu, July 28:

Members of Parliament (MPs) today demanded that the High-level Investigation Commission headed by former Supreme Court Justice Krishna Jung Rayamajhi give the media personnel free access for reporting the interrogation of former officials involved in killing and suppressing the people during the Jana Andalon-II.

“Media personnel should be given free access so that they can report the interrogation,” said UML MP Ishwor Pokhrel at the special session of the House of Representatives.

“Permissions should be given if TV and radio stations want to broadcast the interrogation live,” he said, stressing the need to make the entire process transparent.

“Since people want to hear about all that the suspects have to tell the commission, media personnel should be given free access to the interrogation,” Pokhrel said.

The questions put forth by the commission and the answers given by the suspects should be made public, he said.

“Why has the government not taken action against the perpetrators who suppressed Jana Andolan-II. Why is the government not taking action against the members of the disbanded Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC)” he asked. “Why has the Interim Constitution Drafting Committee been working in a secret manner,” he questioned.

As the commission is located on the Singha Durbar premises, there is no guarantee that the people wanting to suggest the commission will have access to the commission, he said. He demanded that strong action against the suppressors of the Jana Andolan-II.

Stating that Rayamajhi commission has not been allowing the media to watch the interrogation, another UML MP Sher Dhan Rai charged: The commission is not serious about taking action against the suppressors of the Jana Andalon-II. “People want to see action taken against them. The media should be given access while the statements of the suppressors are recorded.”

Rai also demanded that the statute draft panel enlighten people on what basis they have been drafting the statute. Lamenting that Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Paudel had appointed 51 district judges under the 1990 Constitution without taking the oath of office in line with the House declaration, MP Leelamani Pokhrel asked: “Why did he appoint the judges under the power of the King even without taking the oath of office in the House?”

UML MP Raghuji Pant called the government to either privatise the government media — Radio Nepal, NTV and Gorkhapatra Corporation — or turn them into cooperatives. “Running of the media by the government is an instance of misuse of media.”