Kathmandu, October 17:

The Maoists have threatened local journalists of Udayapur to join their party to report on them. They called the journalists in the name of attending a programme where the local in-charge of the CPN-Maoist threatened reporters in the presence of human rights activists and civil society representatives, said a press release issued here today by the Federation of Nepalese Journalists.

“According to a report form the Udayapur Branch of FNJ, Maoist activist Santosh threatened reporters aggressively after they claimed that the Maoists failed to respect the code of conduct,” the release said. The release said they (Maoists) also threatened reporters to “think seriously” while reporting anything related to their party.

The FNJ has condemned the incident and added that the repeated incidents of the Maoists violating press freedom have “shocked” the federation. The release urged the Maoist leadership to guarantee that such events are not repeated in future.