Nepal's King Gyanendra is responsible for the killing of pro-democracy protesters and must be punished, a panel investigating the crackdown on April's anti-monarchy protests said today.
The panel's findings also blamed 201 other politicians, royalist ministers, civil servants, army and police officers for human rights violations, abuse of authority and corruption in the bloody clampdown.
The government says at least 22 people were killed and more than 5,000 wounded in the actions of security forces against protesters who forced the monarch to relinquish absolute power and restore democracy.
The panel's findings are unprecedented in the history of Nepal, where the king has traditionally been revered as a deity.