This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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The Nepalese government has arrested a Canadian expatriate, Robert Penner, in Kathmandu and threatened him with expulsion from Nepal for criticizing the country’s human-rights situation on social media. Working as a software developer in Lalitpur, i.e. a district south of Kathmandu, Robert Penner had voiced his opinions about problems of the Madhesi minority, the arrest of prominent journalist Kanak Mani Dixit and the local reaction to a recent report by Human Rights Watch on Nepal.
Mr. Penner was arrested from his office on Monday afternoon. Just before the arrest, he tweeted that “I repeatedly asked Nepal Police to tell me under what charges they’re taking me but they won’t say.” Penner’s lawyer, Dipendra Jha, was held overnight on immigration charges that his Twitter posts were harming “security and mutual harmony in Nepal.” He mentioned that “they’re saying they plan to deport him back because they can cancel his visa.”
Chief District Officer of Lalitpur, Rishi Ram Sharma, has also confirmed the news of Penner’s arrest and revealed that it was due to the request of immigration officials. He explained that “Immigration asked us to hand [him] over.” In response to a query by Nepalese newspaper Republica, Mr. Neupane’s department alleged that it wants to expel Mr. Penner back to Canada because “he obtained a visa for working at an IT company but he was found engaged in making provocative statements that may jeopardize national integrity,” adding that “foreigners are not allowed to engage in such activities.”
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