The Bara District Court in Nepal on 30 May handed down a life sentence to two people accused of the murder of journalist Birendra Saha in 2007, the International Press Institute’s (IPI) Nepal National Committee reported.

Maoist activists Managar Giri and Ram Ekbal Sahani, who have already spent the last two years in judicial custody, will reportedly also have their property confiscated.

“With this court decision, a step has been taken by the State authority to put an end to the longtime unchecked impunity in the country, thereby to promote freedom of expression [and the] press,” the IPI National Committee said in a written statement.

Saha, a reporter for the country’s news channel Avenues TV, was abducted on 5 October 2007 and killed shortly after. His body was found a month later in a forest in the same area.

Sahani and another suspect, Kundan Faujdar, were allegedly responsible for abducting the journalist at Pipra Bazaar in Kalaiya, the headquarters of Bara district, according to the IPI National Committee. Faujdar and two other suspects remain at large, according to local media – which quoted District Attorney Poudel as saying that the case against the activists was still pending, but would continue.

The IPI National Committee said in its statement that growing pressure on the parliament and government from the media and national and international human rights organizations contributed to the administration’s decision to launch a thorough investigation, despite their initial reluctance to do so.

IPI Press Freedom Manager Anthony Mills said: “It is encouraging to see that such brutal crimes like the murder of Mr. Saha do not go unpunished. We hope that the authorities will continue their impartial investigation into the case and bring all perpetrators to justice.”