The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the government to immediately release 172 persons arrested on various dates during demonstrations oganised by the seven opposition political parties in Kathmandu.

Issuing orders on separate writ petitions, two SC benches ordered the government to release the opposition political leaders, activists and human rights activists.

Those ordered to be released include CPN (UML) leaders Ishwor Pokharel, Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Astha Laxmi Shakya, Raghuji Pant, Krishan Gopal Shreshta and Gopal Shakya.

The SC benches stated that the detention of political leaders and rights activists was illegal. The Nepal Bar Association (NBA) had filed writ petitions seeking their immediate release.

All 172 persons were arrested from different protest rallies in the Kathmandu Valley and are being kept in various detention centers.

There are over 1000 political leaders, human rights workers and journalists in various government denteion centers in the Kathmandu Valley, according to human rights groups monitoring the ongoing agitations of the seven political parties. nepalnews.com mk Apr 18 06