Director-General condemns murder of Nepalese media owner Jamim Shah
16-02-2010 (Paris)
Jamim Shah
The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today condemned the murder of Jamin Shah, a Nepalese media owner, in Katmandou on 7 February, and voiced concern about threats to journalists in the country.
“I condemn the murder of Jamim Shah,” the Director-General said. “Mr Shah was a key player in the development of television in Nepal which, like every country, relies on media pluralism to foster free and informed debate. I am also deeply concerned about threats to journalists reporting on his death. I trust that the Nepalese authorities’ investigation into this crime will be successful and that those seeking to intimidate the media will be brought to justice.”
Head of satellite TV station Channel Nepal and cable TV company Space Time Network, Jamin Shah was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle on a major thoroughfare in Katmandu. His driver, Mathuraman Malakar, was seriously injured in the attack.
The largest privately-owned media organization in Nepal, The Kantipur Group, said that since the murder, its managing director and the editors of its two dailies, Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post, have received threats by phone and email from unidentified sources to stop the newspapers’ coverage on the killing of Mr Shah. Similar threats are reported to have been received by the group that publishes the daily Himalayan Times and a sister publication in Nepali, the Annapurna Post.
Head of satellite TV station Channel Nepal and cable TV company Space Time Network, Jamin Shah was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle on a major thoroughfare in Katmandu. His driver, Mathuraman Malakar, was seriously injured in the attack.
The largest privately-owned media organization in Nepal, The Kantipur Group, said that since the murder, its managing director and the editors of its two dailies, Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post, have received threats by phone and email from unidentified sources to stop the newspapers’ coverage on the killing of Mr Shah. Similar threats are reported to have been received by the group that publishes the daily Himalayan Times and a sister publication in Nepali, the Annapurna Post.
UNESCO is the only United Nations agency with a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom. Article 1 of its Constitution requires the Organization to “further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.” To realize this the Organization is requested to “collaborate in the work of advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of mass communication and to that end recommend such international agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image…”
Related themes/countries
· Nepal
· Press Freedom
· UNESCO Remembers Assassinated Journalists
· Weekly newsletter
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- UNESCO Press Release No.2010-17
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