King Gyanendra of Nepal on Saturday gave security forces sweeping powers of arrest, as riot police rounded up hundreds more pro-democracy protesters outside his palace. State radio said the king renewed an ordinance that gives police and troops the right to detain people and search homes on suspicion of âterroristâ activities.
| With, in this case, a fairly wide definition of "terrorism." |
The ordinance had just expired after being imposed by parliament for two years in April 2002. King Gyanendra, who dismissed the elected government six months later, extended it in the absence of a parliament. The measure was designed to help troops battle Maoist rebels, who have been fighting since 1996 to overthrow the monarchy.
| But now it's being used against the guys who'd like to see the parliament back... |
But its renewal comes after a week of massive demonstrations in Kathmandu demanding the restoration of democracy. The protests are sponsored by the main parties in the dissolved parliament, which are not linked to the Maoists. Several hundred protesters gathered Saturday in a park outside the palace but were promptly rounded up by police enforcing a two-day-old ban on public gatherings in the capital, witnesses said. Tens of thousands had rallied Friday outside the palace but their threats to cross the barbed-wire barricades and storm the sprawling palace compound were thwarted when police detained them en masse. âMost of the protesters have been released soon after Fridayâs events but nearly 1,600 of them remain in custody,â a police officer said on condition of anonymity. Opposition parties charged that the government did not supply food, water or beds for the detained protesters who spent the night crammed in three public buildings.
| Methinks ye Kinge is toast. And probably good riddance. |
|