Nepal suspends passports of ex-PM Oli, 4 officials
What's the story
Nepal's interim government has suspended the passports of former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and four other officials. The action was taken due to their alleged involvement in the violent crackdown on Gen Z protests on September 8 and 9. The protests were against corruption and a social media ban, leaving around 75 dead in total.
Investigation underway
We may require additional human resources: Commission chair
The passport freeze was recommended by a judicial commission probing the protests. The commission's chair, former justice Gauri Bahadur Karki, said they might need more resources to finish the investigation. "We may require additional human resources to complete the investigation effectively, and we will request support from the home ministry," Karki said on Sunday.
Ongoing demands
Families of victims demand accountability
The families of the victims and human rights activists have called for accountability and compensation for those killed. The decision to freeze passports is one of the most high-profile measures taken since the new interim government came to power. Just a day before, Oli expressed anger over reports that authorities were considering withholding passports of several top officials. "Now the government is talking about revoking my privileges..They're throwing the country into insecurity—shouldn't they be responsible for ensuring security?" he said.
Political backlash
CPN-UML calls passport freeze 'political revenge'
The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML), to which Oli belongs, has opposed the passport freeze, calling it "political revenge." The party's secretariat meeting expressed serious objection to this act in a statement. Meanwhile, former PM Oli defended his actions during the protests, blaming infiltrators for the violence and claiming he was unaware of police firing live ammunition. "We have to make this country a constitutional, democratic country and bring politics back on track," he asserted.
New leadership
Nepal's 1st female PM promises to investigate killings
After the protests, former Chief Justice Sushila Karki was appointed as interim Prime Minister. She is Nepal's first female PM. The new government has promised to investigate the killings of 19 young demonstrators on the first day and the subsequent violence that resulted in the higher death toll. A Cabinet meeting on September 21 formed a judicial inquiry into these events.