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| Sunday, 9 October 2005 |
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World |  |
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Nepalese
journalist dies in police custody
KATHMANDU, Oct 6 (AFP) A Nepalese journalist being held on suspicion of having contacts with Maoist rebels has died in police custody after being refused proper medical treatment, the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) said Thursday. Maheshwor Pahari, 32, who has been in detention almost continuously for the past 21 months, died Tuesday at a hospital in Pokhara, about 200 kilometres (125 miles) west of Kathmandu, where he had been admitted after falling ill. "He had become ill nearly one and a half months ago while in detention and was only (recently) admitted to the regional hospital in Pokhara for his treatment," the FNJ said in a statement. "He was arrested nearly two years ago and kept in the jail as a prisoner of conscience," it said, adding that its requests for him to be treated in a place equipped with proper medical facilities was turned down for security reasons. "The FNJ demands an investigation into the negligence in the treatment leading to his death and compensation to the bereaved family," FNJ general secretary Mahendra Bista told AFP. Pahari was arrested on January 2, 2004 for his alleged ideological support for Maoist rebels who have been fighting to install a communist republic in the world's only Hindu kingdom since 1996. After 18 months in a civilian jail he was released but immediately rearrested by the army and then transferred to a camp of the armed police. "When he was arrested, Pahari was a healthy person," said Binod Dhungel, coordinator of the Independent Radio Journalists' Action Committee. "Pahari was tortured so much during his detention by the army and later in the armed police camps that he developed numerous diseases, including typhoid," Dhungel said. "Pahari died under a mysterious and suspicious condition and we want his case to be investigated," he said. There has been no immediate official comment on Pahari's death. |
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