IPI Criticises Disruption of Newspapers in Nepal

Over recent months the Maoist party affiliate the All Nepal Communication, Printing and Publication Workers Union (CPPWU) has been disrupting the publication of a number of Nepalese newspapers, as well as issuing threats against journalists.

Commenting on the activities of the trade union, IPI Director Johann P. Fritz said, "I am deeply concerned by these actions. The trade union’s relationship to the Maoist party suggests that there is an ongoing attempt to influence newspaper content in Nepal."

"Outside agitators should not be allowed to compel a media organisation to accept a trade union and I welcome the decision of the Patan Appellate Court in the Himalayan Times and the Annapurna Post cases. I hope the judiciary will continue to prevent this trade union from hindering the legitimate activities of media organisations," added Fritz.

On 11 August, the publication of the Himalayan Times and the Annapurna Post dailies, owned by the Asia Pacific Communication Associates (APCA), was disrupted by the CPPWU, which sought to prevent distribution of the newspapers. The CPPWU said they acted because both newspapers carried unfavourable news reports about the organisation. On 15 August, the publisher successfully obtained a legal order stating that the trade union was not to disrupt its activities.

This is not the first time that the trade union has tried to disrupt the activities of a publisher. In late June, Kamana Prakashan Samuha, another private publishing house, was forced to halt its publication of the newspapers Nepal Samacharpatra and Mahanagar after a distributor pressed for the publisher to establish a chapter of the CPPWU at its offices. Death threats were also made against members of the publisher’s management team, including the Executive Chairman and former Chairman of the International Press Institute’s National Committee in Nepal, Pushkar Lal Shrestha.

According to journalists, the CPPWU’s disruptive activities are designed to increase its membership at newspaper publishers and to possibly influence coverage of the Maoist party; however, in the most recent acts of disruption, the organisation was reacting to media criticism of its own actions.