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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Nepal's king faces defiance over power grab |
| 2005-02-09 |
| Nepal's King Gyanendra was facing mounting opposition from a legal challenge and planned street protests as top lawyers said his emergency rule was against the spirit of the constitution. In the first court action since the king sacked the government, seized power and imposed a state of emergency, a Supreme Court judge Wednesday ordered his newly-appointed government of loyalists to explain the arrest of a former bar association chief, a court source said. The court issued the order in response to a habeas corpus petition by Nepal Bar Association president Shambhu Thapa, after former bar association president Sindhunath Pyakurel was arrested the day the king seized power on February 1. Meanwhile, activists who escaped a roundup after the power grab met underground to finalise details of an anti-monarchy protest which they plan to stage in the capital on Thursday in defiance of a ban on public gatherings. Krishna Pahadi, former president of the Human Rights and Peace Society (HURPES), said some 20 organisations would be represented and all those taking part expect to be detained. "For sure people who will attend the meeting will be arrested but you cannot be detained for more than three months," he said. Numbers were not as important as the symbolism of the demonstration, Pahadi added. "Tomorrow, even if there are few people, the presence of various organisations will give a symbolic message ... It will (send) a clear message that we are against (the) royal move." He also hoped it would help mobilise students and political movements, many of which are planning their own protests after their leaders were rounded up. Shortly after he attended the meeting, Pahadi was arrested, HURPES said in a statement. It said the event would proceed as planned. The Nepali Congress political party said some of its leaders have crossed into India to avoid arrest but others who escaped the security net were meeting underground. "(They) are planning a strategy of peaceful street protests against the king's move and to demand the restoration of the people's democratic rights and freedom of speech," party spokesman Arjun Narsingh said. He said Tuesday that some 1,000 activists from political parties, student groups and trade unions have been rounded up nationwide. Army spokesman Brigadier General Dipak Gurung said only around 100 political and student leaders had been locked up since the king intervened and could be detained for three months. But the Maoists have rejected his takeover. They have called for an indefinite nationwide strike and traffic blockade starting February 13 to protest his actions and to mark the anniversary of the start of the insurgency. Senior lawyer and constitutional expert Sher Bahadur appealed Wednesday for the king to end the emergency, saying it "does not fall within the purview of the constitution" since parliament, which must endorse emergency rule, was dissolved in 2002. "The royal enforcement of the emergency rule is not in keeping with the spirit of the constitution," he said. Ganesh Raj Sharma, senior advocate of the Supreme Court and a top constitutional expert, agreed that the king's actions needed endorsement by the house. Because there is no parliament, he added, "the current changes brought by the king do not fall within the purview of the constitution." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |