Australian, Chinese nationals arrested at Nepal coronavirus protest

Name: Coronavirus: anti-lockdown protests erupt across Europe in UK, Germany and Spain
Uploaded: 2020-06-13T12:47:08.000Z
Duration: 3 min 6 s
Description: Coronavirus: anti-lockdown protests erupt across Europe in UK, Germany and Spain

10 people including seven foreigners were arrested as hundreds staged a demonstration against the government’s handling of the pandemic

The home ministry has warned that protesters could face a six-month jail term if they stage rallies during the lockdown

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Demonstrators at a coronavirus protest in Kathmandu, Nepal. Photo: EPA-EFE

Agence France-Presse

Published: 8:47pm, 13 Jun 2020Updated: 8:48pm, 13 Jun 2020

Nepali police arrested 10 protesters including foreign nationals from Australia, the United States and China on Saturday as hundreds staged a demonstration in Kathmandu against the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.

Demonstrators have defied a nationwide lockdown for several days this week to demand better testing and quarantine facilities for returning migrant workers.

Police official Sushil Kumar Yadav said that seven of those arrested were foreigners. Three of them were Chinese, with one each from the United States, Australia, Canada and Norway, he said.

“It has not been decided if they will be charged,” Yadav added.

At the protest on Saturday, participants showed up in masks, carrying banners reading “enough is enough”.

“This is a time of crisis and we need our government to be accountable,” said one 23-year-old student, Alisha Shrestha, who was not arrested.

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Coronavirus: anti-lockdown protests erupt across Europe in UK, Germany and Spain