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Demand for Rabi Lamichhane’s Release from the UK

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१२ कार्तिक २०८१, सोमबार १९:४५

London: A call for the immediate release of Rabi Lamichhane, the chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), currently detained in connection with a cooperative fraud case, has been made from the United Kingdom.

The Overseas Nepali Liaison Department of the UK chapter of the Rastriya Swatantra Party submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli through the Nepali Embassy in London on Monday. In the memorandum, the department requested an end to what they described as “state-sponsored terror driven by political vendetta” and urged the immediate release of RSP leader Rabi Lamichhane.

The delegation, led by department head Pawan Sharma, handed over the seven-point memorandum to Acting Ambassador Bipin Dawadi at the embassy.

The memorandum condemned Lamichhane’s detention as politically motivated, stating that the parliamentary investigation committee’s report on the cooperative fraud recommended pursuing those actually responsible for misappropriation, rather than detaining Lamichhane. The memorandum urged accountability by identifying the real culprits and returning misappropriated funds to the public.

Additionally, it highlighted concerns over alleged misappropriations of over NPR 87 billion, asking for investigations into unlicensed lenders (miterbajis), with a request to establish help desks at district administration offices to assist cooperative and miterbaji victims.

The department demanded strict action against cooperative fraud suspects Dhanraj Gurung and Rishikesh Pokharel and urged the government to return the defrauded funds to victims. It also requested impartial investigations into cases involving land misuse, such as the Bansbari land, the Tikapur case, and the Lalita Niwas property scandal. They also called for accountability in the Bhutanese refugee scandal and investigations into allegations of corrupt dealings between the ruling party UML and businessman Min Bahadur Gurung concerning land donations.

Furthermore, the department proposed the formation of a high-level independent commission to investigate corruption cases post-1990, ensuring strict punishment for the guilty.

The memorandum also warned that failure to address these demands could lead to mass protests against the government.

Rastriya Swatantra Party leaders and members from the UK gathered at the Nepali Embassy in London to submit the memorandum.