Editors' alliance denounces obstruction on Kantipur

The Editors' Alliance has denounced the continued attacks by the Maoist union on Kantipur Publications which has severely disrupted the production and distribution of Kantipur and Kathmandu Post dailies.

Maoist-affiliated trade union members staging sit-in in front of the Kantipur Publications at Teenkune, Kathmandu, Monday, Oct 01 07. Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post dailies could not hit the newsstands today as the pro-Maoist workers vandalised the printing facility last evening. nepalnews.com/rh

In a statement on Monday, the group of senior editors of Nepal 's national newspapers and television said the action amounted to 'a serious assault on the freedom of press and the public's right to information'.

The Alliance comprising editors of The Kathmandu Post (Prateek Pradhan), Nepal Samacharpatra, (Pushkar Lal Shrestha), Kantipur (Narayan Wagle), Image Channel (Vijay Panday), The Himalayan Times (Ram Pradhan), Sudheer Sharma (Nepal), Shree Acharya ( Annapurna Post), Yubaraj Ghimire (Samaya), Shiva Gaunle (Himal Khabarpatrika) and Kunda Dixit ( Nepali Times), further said, "The arson attack and serious damage to the printing facility of Kantipur shows that this is a deliberate and systematic assault on press freedom carried out in the guise of a trade union."

"We haven't seen such a serious attack on press freedom even during the direct censorship of media after the king's coup in February 2005," the Alliance said. nepalnews.com ia Oct 01 07

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