Nepal report recommends prosecution of ex-PM Oli over deadly 2025 uprising

A Nepal government-backed report into the deadly September 2025 uprising has recommended the prosecution of ex-prime minister KP Sharma Oli and other officials.

At least 77 people were killed in the anti-corruption youth uprising on September 8 and 9, which began over a brief social media ban, but tapped into longstanding fury over economic hardship.

At least 19 young people were killed in a crackdown on the first day of protests.

No one has been convicted for the deaths.

“It was decided to recommend to the Government of Nepal that an investigation, inquiry, and prosecution be carried out against the then executive head, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli,” a leaked copy of the report said, released by local media and seen by AFP on Thursday.

It added that Ramesh Lekhak, the former interior minister, as well as former police chief Chandra Kuber Khapung, also be investigated and prosecuted, according to the report.

It said that Lekhak, who bore “overall responsibility for home administration, security agencies, and maintaining law and order” as well as Oli, as the then head of the executive, “did not appear to have made any effort on the afternoon... to prevent further human casualties”.

Four-time prime minister Oli was defeated in elections earlier this month, and newly elected members of parliament, including incoming prime minister Balendra Shah, are set to take their oath of office later on Thursday.

The report said that it was “not established that there was an order to shoot”, but said that “no effort was made to stop or control the firing and, due to their negligent conduct, even minors lost their lives”.

The unrest spread nationwide the following day as parliament and government offices were set ablaze, resulting in the government’s collapse.

Within days, 73-year-old former chief justice Sushila Karki was appointed as interim prime minister.

One of her first acts was to establish a commission to investigate the violence.

Victims have been demanding that the report’s findings be released, after it was submitted this month.

Commission member Bigyan Raj Sharma told reporters the team had questioned more than 200 people, and had submitted a 900-page report — with more than 8,000 additional pages.

On Wednesday evening, Karki’s office said she would release the report, but the official version has not been made public yet.

Source: AFP

- Agencies