The Asian Human Rights Commission on Sunday said the arrest of Kantipur Media Group Chairman Kailash Sirohiya was a result of a political vendetta.

“This is a staged drama of political vendetta against the media. Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane is misusing his political power gained overnight to silence the media which has been publishing a series of his wrongdoings and his active and conscious engagement in the embezzlement of millions of rupees from cooperatives,” it said in a statement.

“The real reason is not the irregularities in the citizenship card of Sirohiya, but a message to the media to stop publishing against Home Minister Lamichhane. And it is not going to stop here. It will continue, and other media organisations are going to be targeted for petty reasons to silence them.”

The AHRC said it believes that the international community and donor agencies to Nepal must act now and immediately impose vetting against the key members of the current government, especially Home Minister Lamichhane and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

Otherwise, political impunity and corruption will remain unabated in Nepal, it said.

“They have made a mockery of the press, the fourth organ of the state, by undermining national and international calls to respect press freedom and the right to free speech,” reads the statement.

The AHRC said Home Minister Lamichhane must resign and that investigations must be conducted into his involvement in the embezzlement of funds from the cooperatives and his earlier misuse of dual citizenships and passports.

“Home Minister Lamichhane is not above the law of the country, and there is no reason for him to enjoy any special treatment. He must face the law and prove himself not guilty, if at all,” it said.

The AHRC has urged the Nepal government ‘to immediately stop its naked and lowly circus’ and release Sirohiya. “Our organisation does not believe that the ongoing investigation against Sirohiya should stop, but it must fall under nationally and internationally practised standard procedures and laws,” it said.