Kathmandu : In a letter addressed last week to the Nepalese Minister of Information and Communication, Shiva Raj Joshi, Reporters Sans Frontières (Reporters Without Borders ­ RSF based in France) expressed its concern about the decision of the authorities not to deliver authorization to the Space Time Network (STN) for broadcasting its programmes via satellite.

The RSF has asked the Minister to allow the STN to broadcast its programmes freely to foreign countries.

Robert Ménard, the general secretary of the organisation, underlined that the “government must respect the Constitution of Nepal that guarantees press freedom”.
According to the information collected by RSF, says the RSF, the Information and Communication Ministry has prevented the private media group Space Time Network (STN) from extending its activities to the broadcasting of its programmes via Thai Com satellite. STN, already an operator of cable television and publisher of a free and independent broad sheet daily, planned to broadcast programmes from 14 April last month after the signing of a business agreement with Thai Com managers.

STN is expected to cover 52 countries of the globe and is hoped to be entertained by millions and millions of the Nepalese living outside the country.

To recall, two days before the launching of the broadcast, the ministry required from STN a complete list of the equipment used for such broadcasting. Since then, the ministry has not authorised the broadcast.

The victim of the government’s whimsical decision, is Monsieur Jamim Shah, the managing director of the STN, who expressed his utter surprise regarding this obstruction decided two days before the launching while the event had been announced a month earlier. Recently, the parliamentary Communication and Development Commission asked the minister to take a decision within two weeks.

The statement of the RSF has been issued by the International Secretariat Asia ­ Pacific Desk on the eve of the International Press day.

The RSF address in France is as follows: 5 rue Geoffroy Marie – 75009 Paris, France