Journalists in Nepal have demanded the release of three of their colleagues who were taken into custody by the erstwhile royal regime and asked the new government to withdraw all rules and regulations introduced by King Gyanendra to curb the media.

Journalists Tejnarayan Sapkota, Rajendra Gautam and Hom Prasad Basyal who are still in jail should be immediately released, the Federation of Nepalese Journalists said in a statement on Monday.

• The Nepal Crisis

The FNJ also asked the government to withdraw all laws, rules and ordinances introduced by the royal government to curb the media.

Asking the government to withdraw all political appointments made by the previous regime in the government media, the organisation demanded that those journalists, who were working in private and government media and had lost their jobs following 2005's royal takeover should be returned their jobs and provided with compensation.

In a separate statement, the FNJ has condemned the grilling of a photo journalist associated with NepalNews.com, the popular online newspaper.

On Friday the Maoist cadres grilled photo journalist Kumar Shrestha and two other scribes and released them after interrogation during the first public meeting of the Maoist affiliated student wings and trade union bodies at Tundikhel Open Theatre.