Kathmandu, May 5:

The Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) today asked the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) to enunciate its views on press freedom. The request comes in the wake of yesterday’s incident at Babar Mahal, where some Royal Nepalese Army men manhandled a group of journalists. FNJ has called on the RNA to state its position loud and clear.

In a press release, the FNJ said the RNA should make clear its views on a free press immediately. Simultaneously, it also reminded the army of its series of unprofessional conducts and anti-media activities.

“RNA has in the past arrested journalists at midnight, detained them for days on end in army bunkers, charged people with terrorist activities without a shard of evidence

and censored news by placing armed men on news desks,” the press release said.

A group of journalists from Kantipur TV and Kantipur daily were manhandled yesterday while trying to cover the incident of some drunk army men in an ambulance ramming a public bus at Babar Mahal.

Some journalists were beaten up. The soldiers also tried to snatch a cassette of the film the Kantipur TV crew had shot.

“Any incident that takes place on open roads is of public interest and it is a journalist’s duty to report it. We condemn the attack on the journalists by RNA men yesterday,” the FNJ said, adding, that the image of the army would further deteriorate if it tried to keep the incident under wraps.

Two soldiers sent to jail

Kathmandu: The Military Court on Friday slapped two-year jail terms on two soldiers and dismissed them from the army for drunken driving and ‘incompetence’, the Directorate of Public Relations of the Royal Nepalese Army said.

The drunk soldier was driving an army ambulance that hit a minibus at Babarmahal on Thursday. The court also held corporal Ravi Adhikari and soldier Chandra Bahadur Lungeli Magar incompetent for any government service in the future. The soldiers have been sent to a civilian prison. — HNS