The International Press Institute (IPI) Nepal National Committee on Wednesday expressed concern over continued death threats directed at freelance journalist Ganesh Pandey.

In a statement released yesterday, the IPI Nepal Committee reported that an unknown person, who identified himself as Gyanbhi Gurung, had threatened Pandey several times over the past week in relation to an article published in local paper Samacharpatra Daily on Aug. 20, in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.

The article reported on an alleged Aug. 17, 2003 incident in Doramba, a village located in the northeastern Ramechhap district in Nepal, where 19 suspected Maoists were massacred by the then Royal Nepal Army during the armed conflict.

Pandey told the IPI Nepal Committee that he suspects that the threat may have been issued by those connected to the incident.

“We want the government to provide security to the Pandey to prevent possible attacks,” said Taranath Dahal, general secretary at the IPI Nepal National Committee. “It is regrettable that a journalist should receive such threats for exercising his constitutional right to report; such acts are an attack on press freedom.”

The IPI Nepal Committee also urged the government and security agencies to investigate the incident.

Several threats have been made against journalists in Nepal in the past month. On Aug. 16, the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) reported that Hemanta Poudel, chief editor of Sudur Sandesh Daily, was threatened by police after publishing an article revealing the involvement of police in smuggling along the Nepal-India border.

In a separate incident, on Aug. 26, cameraman Sachin Pariyar was manhandled by airport police at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport while covering the Nepal Cricket Team’s return from Australia after their participation in a U-19 cricket match, IPI reported.