NEPAL: Opposition leader arrested

KATHMANDU — Armed Police Force (APF) personnel arrested Madhav Kumar-Nepal, general-secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist), on March 23. A team of APF officers took him to the APF barracks at Kakani, Kumar-Nepal's personal assistant Yadav Sharma told the Kantipur online news service over the phone. Kumar-Nepal is a leading member of the seven-party opposition alliance that has been organising nationwide protests against the year-old dictatorial rule of Nepal's king. Kumar-Nepal is also a former deputy prime minister. He has been charged with disturbing the public peace and being a threat to security by "drawing crowds around his residence". Kumar-Nepal was placed under house arrest on January 19. The government extended Kumar-Nepal's house arrest on February 20 for an unspecified period. Kantipur also reported on March 23 that police had also raided the homes of Kumar-Nepal's two brothers "and snatched away electronic appliances including computers and telephone sets. The government's action comes in the wake of the seven-party alliance's intensified preparations for the upcoming 'huge mass demonstrations' slated for April 8."

From Green Left Weekly, March 29, 2006.

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From GLW issue 662