Former Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli arrested over last year’s GenZ protests

Former Nepal Prime Minister arrested for alleged role in deadly 2025 Gen Z protest, just one day after Balendra Shah was sworn in as new prime minister. Former Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak also detained along with Oli.

Former Nepal Prime Minister arrested for alleged role in deadly 2025 Gen Z protest, just one day after Balendra Shah was sworn in as new prime minister. Former Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak was also detained along with Oli.

A Nepali probe panel this week recommended prosecuting former PM KP Sharma Oli, 74, for failing to stop the violent crackdown on anti-corruption protests.

The arrest comes just a day after PM Balendra Shah's cabinet was sworn in, post the first elections since the 2025 uprising that ousted Oli.

The anti-corruption Gen Z revolt, sparked by a social media ban amid economic woes, killed 77 on Sept 8-9, with 19 youth dead in the initial crackdown.

The unrest spread widely, engulfing the entire nation with parliament and government buildings torched, sealing the collapse of Oli's regime.

Rapper-turned-Prime Minister Balendra Shah's election win prompted a violence probe panel.

In Friday's first cabinet meeting, his new government fast-tracked the commission's report, recommending up to 10 years in jail for Oli, Lekhak, and others, including former IGP Chandra Kuber Khapung, for negligence in the anti-corruption uprising.

Although Forer PM rejected the panel's findings. He called them unacceptable.

"The report is extremely negligent. It amounts to character assassination. It reflects hate politics. It is regrettable," the Annapurna Post quoted him as saying online.

If a court prosecutes and convicts Oli, Lekhak, and Khapung as recommended, they could face up to 10 years in jail. In the March 5 elections, Oli lost badly to Rastriya Swatantra Party's Balen Shah in Jhapa-5, a Communist Party stronghold.