Hundreds of Nepalese Pro-Democracy Protestors Detained by SBS World News 5:53pm 15th Apr, 2004   16.4.2004.    In defiance of a week-old ban on public assembly, hundreds of anti-monarchist protesters took to the streets of Kathmandu and were later detained. Supporters of Nepal’s opposition said 1,354 people were taken into custody. However, the police have confirmed that 652 were rounded up and promptly released.    A sprawling barbed wire barricade was also erected on the road leading to the royal residence to keep activists away.    Among the detained protesters was former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala who served in that post on three occasions between 1998 and 2001.    Demonstrators had called for a return to elected rule chanting, “Down with King Gyanendra. We want democracy.”    While absolute monarchy in Nepal officially ended in 1990, the king dismissed the elected government in 2002 and installed a pro-monarchist administration.    Elsewhere in the capital, Maoist militants bombed a municipal office causing major damage to the building but no fatalities were reported. Maoist rebels have been waging a bloody resistance against Nepal’s monarchy for eight years.    According to a report released by a human rights group last week, nearly 2,500 people have been killed in the country since peace talks between rebels and the royalist government broke down in August. Last month, King Gyanendra said he hoped elections would be held in April 2005.
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