Kathmandu, November 21:

Speaker of interim parliament Subas Nembang today said the government should punish the killers of journalist Birendra Shah to prove that there is a rule of law in the country.

“The whole parliament is convinced that the culprits should be punished. Shah’s killing is a attack on press freedom and democracy,” he said, while addressing a programme organised to pay tribute to Shah on the 13th day of confirmation of his death.

UML lawmaker Raghuji Panta said the government must prove its stand on press freedom.

Dilaram Acharya of Rastriya Jana Morcha said the Maoists have done here what even Hilter would not have done in Germany. “Nobody should be allowed to create terror in the name of Mao and under the shadow of a communist flag,” he said.

FNJ vice-president Shiva Gaunle said killing of Shah’s will remain as a dark spot in the history of Nepali journalism. “The murder is shocking but what is equally objectionable is the government’s silence over the issue,” he said.

Balkrishna Chapagain of Press Chautari Nepal handed over a memorandum to Nembang demanding prompt action against the killers.