Call to free detainees before talks

Chitwan, May 5:

The prisoners of conscience, being held at Bharatpur Prison, have urged the CPN-Maoists not to hold dialogue with the government until all political detainees are set free.

In a press statement today, the detainees said that the delay by the government in performing different tasks according to the mandate of the people’s movement had raised doubts about its motives.

The delay can affect the achievement of goals of people’s movement, the statement added.

Detainees said the government was also delaying the process of releasing them and added that the mandate of the movement would not be complete until all detainees are released.

The statement said that they too would join the movement of political detainees in the capital, if their demands were not met.

There are altogether 50 prisoners of conscience in Bharatpur prison.