Former Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has been arrested for his alleged involvement in the deadly crackdown on protests last year.
More than 70 people were killed, including many protesters shot dead by police, during an uprising in September – sparked by a ban on social media but fueled by simmering anger over corruption and poor economic conditions.
Former interior minister Ramesh Lekhak was also arrested on Saturday, after a committee investigating the unrest recommended that the two men be prosecuted for criminal negligence.
It comes a day after the country’s new prime minister, a 35-year-old rapper turned politician, Balen Shah was sworn in following elections triggered by the crisis.
“They were arrested this morning and the proceedings will continue in accordance with the law,” Om Adhikari, spokesperson for the Kathmandu Valley police, told Agence France-Presse. Oli, 74, and Lekhak, 62, have not been charged.
Oli previously rejected the commission’s findings, which also recommended the arrest of former police chief Chandra Kuber Khapung, telling the Annapurna Post that it was “character assassination and hate politics.”
His lawyers told Reuters his detention was unjustified at this stage of the investigation.
“It is illegal and inappropriate because there is no risk of him fleeing or avoiding questioning,” he said.
On Instagram, the new Minister of the Interior, Soudan Gurung, who has been a key figure in the protests, welcomed these arrests.
“No one is above the law… This is not revenge against anyone, just the beginning of justice,” he wrote.
At least 19 people – including a teenager in a school uniform – were killed during the so-called Generation Z protests on September 8, when young people took to the streets following the government’s shutdown of social media sites.
Coming amid frustration over high unemployment, economic stagnation, corruption and nepotism in politics, the crackdown sparked wider rallies across the country in which many more died and parliament, police stations and shops were burned.
Since then, the families of the 76 people who died have called for authorities to be held accountable.
Oli resigned on September 9, but contested again the elections which took place on March 5.
Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) won a landslide victory, the first time in decades that a single party has won a majority in Nepal, whose electoral format makes it difficult for one party to win outright.