Nepal: RTI activist issued death threats
Event- Country
- Nepal
- Initial Date
- Feb 15, 2022
- Event Description
Reporter with www.pnews.com.np Kailash Majhi was issued death threat through a letter for his reporting in Saptari district on February 15. Saptari lies in Madhesh Province of Nepal.
In a conversation with Freedom Forum, reporter Majhi shared, "I am a media person and an active Right to Information activist in the district. I have been using RTI to request public information at Saptari district's municipalities, community schools and other public offices for long. I also use the received information as news stories to make citizens aware of the ongoing public issues. But early in the morning today, I saw a letter outside the door of my house", he said.
The letter, as he informed, read: "You have been blackmailing local representatives and bureaucrats and reporting news critical to them for long. So, this is a final warning to you, if you ignore this letter and inform police or media then, we will shoot you at your house."
Then, reporter Majhi informed the local police and administration, demanding his security. He further informed the Freedom Forum that Chief District Officer had ensured that the case would be investigated.
Freedom Forum condemns the incident as it is blatant violation of press freedom and citizen’s right to information. While every citizen has right to seek information at public agencies, use of information to make news is constitutionally guaranteed right to free press. Such incident creates panic among fellow journalists and hinders free flow of information.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death threat
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression
- Offline
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- Right to information
- Freedom of expression
- HRD
- RTI activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 26.52615743681939
Longitude: 86.80696735885952
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 15 February 2022, Kailash Majhi, RTI activist, was issued death threats as result of his investigation and raising awareness with citizens in Saptari, Nepal.