Nepal, Sept. 27 -- It was past midnight when plainclothes officers arrived at former chief justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana's home in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu.

Rana and his family were asleep. Armed Police Force personnel guarding the gate initially stopped the officers. The police said they had come to take the former chief justice with them.

Within an hour, Rana was out of his home and on his way to a police office.

The reason given to him was a security threat.

Rana asked why, if he was in danger, the police could not simply reinforce the security already protecting his residence. The officers insisted that he accompany them. They did not show his family an arrest warrant or tell them what offence he was accused of committing.

Twelve...