"We respectfully call on you to do everything possible to ensure that your government’s campaign of intimidation of the media is immediately halted, and that in future Nepal fully respects international standards of free expression," said a letter from WAN and the WEF to King Gyanendra.

At least 37 journalists were arrested in Kathmandu on 5 April during a peace rally and a subsequent protest against the arrests. In addition, newspapers and radio stations have been closed and new laws threaten to criminalise reporting on the Maoist insurgency.

The letter said:

"We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 102 countries, to express our serious concern at the arrest of at least 24 journalists.

"According to reports, at least 24 journalists were arrested in the Newroad area of Kathmandu during a peaceful protest on 5 April. The protest, organised by the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), was in response to the detention earlier in the day of 37 people, including 13 journalists, during a peace rally. The journalists arrested during the protest were Shiva Gaunle, Hemanta Kafle, Purna Basnet, Kanak Dixit, Gyan Ram Shrestha, Laxman Karki, Bal Kumar Nepal, Navin Paudyal, Baburam Dhakal, Rojan Rai, Ujir Magar, Kiran Pokhrel, Indra Baniya, Damodar Dawadi, Govinda Chaulagain, Prakash Silwal, Lila Raj Khanal, Rajendra Aryal, Bimal Gautam, Dharmendra Jha, Uddhav Acharya, Nirmala Sharma, Shankar Layal Malla and Dev Raj Rimal. All the journalists arrested during the FNJ rally were released after about two hours, as were those detained earlier in the day.

"This is the latest incident in a concerted campaign to halt criticism of your government, which has included the jailing of journalists, the closure of newspapers and radio stations, and ˆ within the last week ˆ the introduction of laws that threaten to criminalise reporting on the Maoist insurgency.

"We respectfully call on you to do everything possible to ensure that your government‚s campaign of intimidation of the media is immediately halted, and that in future Nepal fully respects international standards of free expression."

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 73 national newspaper associations, newspapers and newspaper executives in 102 countries, 11 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups.

The WEF is the organisation for editors within the World Association of Newspapers (www.worldeditorsforum.org).

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr.