Freedom Forum condemns the act of online threat against journalist Ajaya Babu Shiwakoti who recently exposed high profile rape allegation against Parliamentarian Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara. The relatives of Mahara and the activists of former Maoist Party have threatened Shiwakoti after he had published the news about the rape accusation against Parliamentarian Mahara in the online newspaper called www.hamrakura.com.

Journalist Shiwakoti is the editor of www.hamrakura.com.

As per the information shared by Shiwakoti to FF, the threat has made him feel extremely unsafe. He added, “Despite this, I have been continuously following up to collect the relevant evidences regarding the case”. He said a secure environment is an urgent necessity for journalists to be able to report correct information in line with the case of rape accusation.

FF strongly believes that journalist issued threat for writing news is against the notion of the free press. It is the sheer violation of press freedom. Hence, FF urges the concerned authorities to take the appropriate security actions to ensure a safe environment for journalists.