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IFJ warns Nepal of isolation

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has warned that Nepal faces "becoming an isolated state" unless it urgently restores democratic rule, freedom of expression and respects the rights of journalists.

Launching a detailed report on the cost to press freedom since King Gyanendra established autocratic rule a year ago, IFJ general secretary Aidan White, speaking to a meeting of editors and journalists from around the country in Kathmandu, said the international community was running out of patience with the King's abandonment of democracy.

"Nepal is fast becoming an isolated state, unwelcome at the table where democratic nations meet," he said. "The King must get the message that dictatorship and pantomime attempts to hold so-called elections are no substitute for respecting human rights and democracy." He was speaking on the anniversary of the King's seizure of power as journalists, under the umbrella of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), joined other civil society groups in a "Black Day" protest over the denial of fundamental rights.

The IFJ report, "Nepal One Year On: Censorship, Crackdown and Courage", gives a detailed account of arrests, detentions and acts of censorship that have blighted Nepali media since February 1 last year. The IFJ joined other global press freedom groups in a joint appeal for an urgent return to democratic rule. The IFJ said that attempts to hold municipal elections are an attempt to give the impression that some notion of democracy still exists in the country.

Mr. White met ambassadors and Government Ministers and insisted that the global support for journalists and other human rights defenders would continue resolutely until the King ended his policy of one-man rule.

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