Police crush protest in Nepal, arrest activists
Police crush protest in Nepal, arrest activists
Thu Mar 3, 8:19 AM ET
KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepali police arrested at least seven political activists on Thursday as part of the Hindu kingdom's attempts to squelch protest against King Gyanendra's assumption of power and the suspension of civil liberties.
Large public protests against Gyanendra's move to arrest political leaders, curb press freedom and impose a state of emergency have not been possible because of a heavy security presence. Small protests have been quickly crushed.
"Down with the royal proclamation (declaring emergency), we want democracy," the political activists shouted as six of them were arrested by riot police and bundled into a van in the old section of Kathmandu, a Reuters reporter at the scene said.
It was not clear to which political party they belonged.
Separately, the centrist Nepali Congress party said a former lawmaker, Bal Dev Sharma, was arrested from his home in a Kathmandu suburb.
Protests against the king have been banned since last month but authorities have allowed rallies in support of his move.
Thursday's arrests came ahead of the first joint protest planned by the five mainstream political parties in Kathmandu next week to press the king to restore democracy.
Gyanendra said his Feb. 1 move to seize power was prompted by the government's failure to contain an anti-monarchy Maoist revolt which has killed more than 11,000 people since 1996.
His move has been condemned by neighbouring India, Britain and the United States and human rights groups. New Delhi and London have suspended arms aid to the Himalayan nation.
Dozens of political activists including the chiefs of key parties who could organise popular protests are under house arrest, in detention or on the run since the royal takeover.
In the latest fighting, the army killed 50 rebels this week in west Nepal in the deadliest clash since the takeover.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1965&u=/nm/20050303/india_nm/india_193873&printer=1
Thu Mar 3, 8:19 AM ET
KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepali police arrested at least seven political activists on Thursday as part of the Hindu kingdom's attempts to squelch protest against King Gyanendra's assumption of power and the suspension of civil liberties.
Large public protests against Gyanendra's move to arrest political leaders, curb press freedom and impose a state of emergency have not been possible because of a heavy security presence. Small protests have been quickly crushed.
"Down with the royal proclamation (declaring emergency), we want democracy," the political activists shouted as six of them were arrested by riot police and bundled into a van in the old section of Kathmandu, a Reuters reporter at the scene said.
It was not clear to which political party they belonged.
Separately, the centrist Nepali Congress party said a former lawmaker, Bal Dev Sharma, was arrested from his home in a Kathmandu suburb.
Protests against the king have been banned since last month but authorities have allowed rallies in support of his move.
Thursday's arrests came ahead of the first joint protest planned by the five mainstream political parties in Kathmandu next week to press the king to restore democracy.
Gyanendra said his Feb. 1 move to seize power was prompted by the government's failure to contain an anti-monarchy Maoist revolt which has killed more than 11,000 people since 1996.
His move has been condemned by neighbouring India, Britain and the United States and human rights groups. New Delhi and London have suspended arms aid to the Himalayan nation.
Dozens of political activists including the chiefs of key parties who could organise popular protests are under house arrest, in detention or on the run since the royal takeover.
In the latest fighting, the army killed 50 rebels this week in west Nepal in the deadliest clash since the takeover.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1965&u=/nm/20050303/india_nm/india_193873&printer=1
posted by JimG at 11:21 AM
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