Nepal Editors condemn pro-Maoist hindrance to Kantipur publications

Nepal Editors Alliance has condemned pro-Maoist attacks on Kantipur Publications, which has severely disrupted the production and distribution of the Himalayan countrys leading dailies -- Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post.

Kathmandu, Oct 1 : Nepal Editors' Alliance has condemned pro-Maoist attacks on Kantipur Publications, which has severely disrupted the production and distribution of the Himalayan country's leading dailies -- Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post.

Maoist-affiliated trade union activists staged a sit-in outside the Kantipur Publications at Teenkune, Kathmandu today, to pressurise for their demands.

Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post failed to hit the stands today morning as the pro-Maoist workers vandalised the printing facility last evening.

In a statement, the alliance of Nepal's senior editors, said the action amounted to 'a serious assault on the freedom of press and the people's 'right to information'.

The alliance comprising of editors of Nepal's leading print and electronic media, including The Kathmandu Post, Nepal Samacharpatra, Kantipur, The Himalayan Times, Image Channel and Nepali Times, 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.

ANI