Nepal Arrests Ex-PM Oli Over Deadly 2025 Anti-Corruption Protest Crackdown

The day after rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah was sworn in as Nepal's prime minister, police in Kathmandu arrested the man he replaced.

Khadga Prasad (K.P.) Sharma Oli, former prime minister and head of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), was taken into custody Saturday morning alongside former home minister Ramesh Lekhak. The arrests stemmed from a government-appointed fact-finding panel's conclusions about the violent crackdown on nationwide "Gen Z" anti-corruption protests in September 2025, when security forces clashed with demonstrators and at least dozens of people were killed.

The panel found that Oli and Lekhak were negligent in failing to restrain police and prevent the lethal response to the demonstrations, and recommended prosecuting both officials for their roles in what it described as an excessive use of force by security agencies.

Nepal's home minister did not soften the message. "No one is above the law," he wrote on social media following the arrests, calling the move "the beginning of justice."

The Communist Party immediately denounced the detentions as illegal and politically motivated. Supporters converged near central government buildings in Kathmandu, burning tyres and scuffling with security officers in scenes that uncomfortably mirrored the unrest the arrests were meant to address. Police deployed teargas and batons to disperse the crowds; at least one person was reported injured. A Kathmandu Valley police spokesman confirmed the detainees would be produced before the courts as part of a formal legal process.

The timing cannot be separated from Nepal's seismic political shift. The Gen Z protests that erupted last September began as anti-corruption demonstrations before rapidly escalating into mass street actions demanding systemic change. The crackdown, which included police firing on crowds in some areas, precipitated a political crisis that ultimately cost Oli's party its parliamentary majority and opened the door to outsider candidates like Balendra Shah, widely known as Balen Shah, who won parliamentary elections and was sworn in just a day before his predecessor was taken into custody.

Officials framed the detentions as accountability rather than retribution. But Oli's supporters insist the timing reveals the true motive, and the Communist Party has vowed to stage nationwide protests in response. The unrest in Kathmandu's streets on Saturday suggested that pressure will not ease quickly.

The judiciary now carries the weight of what comes next. Whether courts bring formal charges, grant bail, or move toward trial will determine whether Nepal's post-protest political order is built on genuine institutional accountability or becomes another front in factional combat. Prosecuting a former prime minister carries consequences that extend well beyond any courtroom: domestically, it risks deepening polarization as Oli's base mobilizes; internationally, it will test the credibility of Nepal's judicial institutions in the most politically sensitive case the country has seen in years. The panel's findings have set events in motion, but it is the courts that will decide whether justice follows.