UN AGENCIES CALL FOR PROTECTION OF NEPAL JOURNALISTS Kathmandu, 11 Jan.: The Office of the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nepal and UNESCO--have demanded better efforts and initiatives to protect journalists. The calls come after arrest of five Maoista who are under investigation for the abduction and murder of journalist Dekendra Thapa eight years in Dailekh smf government attempts to scuttle investigation. "The emerging, horrific details of the circumstances of Dekendra Raj Thapa's death in Dailekh district in 2004 are a stark reminder of the importance of ensuring the safety of journalists in Nepal," the two UN agencies said Thursday. "We applaud the recent decision to include Nepal in the group of five first-phase countries to roll out the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity," said the statement. "This reflects the recognition that failure to bring perpetrators of crimes against journalists to justice leads to impunity that in turn, perpetuates the cycle of violence against media professionals." nnnn AG PRESSURES DAILEKH PUBLIC PROCESUTOR TO SAVE MAOISTS SUSPECTED OF MURDRING JOURNLIST Kathmandu, 11 Jan.:- In a bid to save the five Maoist cadres accused of murdering Dailekh-based journalist Dekendra Thapa , Attorney General Mukti Pradhan has piled pressure on the District Public Prosecutor of Dailekh, Dambar Prasad Kafle, to change the quintet's statement, sources said. SCCORDING TO thE Kathmandu Post.. “I cannot say I am not under pressure,” Kafle told the Post, adding that he will not divulge the details until Friday. Informed sources at the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) told the Post that Pradhan made a telephone call to Kafle on Wednesday and “hurled abuses” at him and threatened to sack him if he did not change the statement of the accused. “The Attorney General has abused the District Prosecutor and threatened to finish off three of his generations,” said a senior official at the OAG, requesting anonymity. Sources further said that Pradhan also mounted pressure on the chief of the Surkhet Appellate Public Prosecutor Office, Man Bahadur Karki, “to not allow the case to move ahead.” The OAG official also said that Pradhan is planning to transfer both Kafle and Karki “to influence the case.” According to sources, Pradhan called Kafle again on Thursday and “coaxed” him by offering a “lucrative transfer and a foreign trip.” “Pradhan on Thursday dictated (to Kafle) a draft of the statement to be recorded for the accused,” the source said. NNNN