Journalist arrest case: parliamentary probe demanded, Insec objects, criticism of Ben's sarcasm

There have been calls for a parliamentary investigation into Friday evening's incident in which police entered a media house and arrested a journalist. In a statement issued Sunday, Nepal Gen-Z Front coordinator Raksha Bam demanded that a parliamentary investigation committee be formed to ensure accountability.

According to the Front, police entering a newsroom in the name of tracing a news source amounts to a direct attack on freedom of expression, democracy and the constitution. The Front said the Prime Minister's Secretariat, the Home Ministry and the police have all claimed ignorance about the incident, shirking responsibility.

The Front also urged both the ruling and opposition parties to make their stance on the incident public.

The human rights organisation Insec has also objected, saying that intimidating journalists is unacceptable in a democracy. Insec chairperson Bijayraj Gautam said the incident has become even more mysterious as government bodies and political parties claim ignorance, and demanded that the government make the facts of the case public.

The three journalists who were arrested were released the same day after widespread criticism.

After a daily newspaper reported a claim that the Prime Minister's Secretariat had handed police a list of 28 journalists, the prime minister's chief political adviser, Kumar Ben, made a sarcastic remark on Facebook. He tagged 20 journalists with a comment to the effect of "so you're not even on the list of 28, what kind of journalist are you," drawing criticism.