Nepal: King must be punished for crackdown says panel

KATHMANDU, Nov 20: Nepal's isolated King Gyanendra is responsible for the shooting and killing of pro-democracy protesters and must be punished, a panel investigating the deadly crackdown on April's anti-monarchy protests said today.

The panel's findings, unprecedented in the history of Nepal where the king has traditionally been revered as a god, also blamed 201 other politicians, royalist ministers, civil servants, army and police officers for human rights violations, abuse of authority and corruption in the bloody clampdown.

The government says at least 22 people were killed and more than 5,000 wounded in the actions of security forces against protesters who forced the monarch to relinquish absolute power and restore democracy.

REUTERS

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