All journalists arrested released after PM's Office directive

All journalists arrested from the newsroom have been released. Information and Communications Minister Bikram Timilsina shared this information in a Facebook post on Friday night.

Minister Timilsina wrote, "All the journalists who were arrested have been released. The government is fully committed to press freedom. Press freedom and responsible journalism are the foundations of democracy."

Earlier, the Prime Minister's Office had directed Inspector General of Police Danbahadur Karki to immediately release the arrested journalists and stop the crackdown on journalists. The Prime Minister's Secretariat had also clarified that neither Prime Minister Balen Shah nor the Prime Minister's Office had any involvement in the incident.

Nepal Press journalist Bishwamani Subedi was released after three and a half hours. He had been arrested from the newsroom on Friday evening over a news report he had written. Police had taken him into custody while pressuring him to reveal the source of a report published in Nepal Press.