Nepali police raid pvt radio station

The raid on the offices of Kantipur FM radio station in Lalitpur, on the southern outskirts of Kathmandu, took place late Friday night, said the official, who asked not to be named.

"About three dozen armed police, accompanied by technicians (entered) the station at around 11:15 pm and seized eight pieces of satellite uplinking equipment, including a satellite modem, encoder and digital audio recorder," the official said.

More than 1,500 Nepalese journalists, teachers, lawyers and other professionals demonstrated in Kathmandu Friday against a strict new press law seen as an attempt by the government to further muzzle the media, witnesses said.

The journalists carried placards that read "Revoke black ordinance," and "Stop press intervention".

The rally, organised by the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), was joined by members of the Nepal Bar Association, Nepal Teachers Association and other professional bodies.

On October 9, King Gyanendra promulgated a new ordinance tightening his grip on the press.

Earlier Friday, Ministry of Information and Communications officials had arrived at the station demanding that the broadcaster adhere to the provisions of a strict new law seen as a government attempt to further muzzle the media.