Friday, March 18, 2022
Press Release of the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee on the Mass Arrests of Journalists by the Security Agencies of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Kabul, Afghanistan:
On Tuesday, March 15, 2022, the security agencies of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan verbally warned the media officials in Kabul to stop broadcasting foreign soap operas.
Following that, the next day, seven journalists were arrested, including officials from Khawar and Haft TV. Similarly, yesterday, Atal Khan Stanekzai, the Director of Hamisha Bahar Radio and Television in Nangarhar province, was arrested by the security forces.
In the most recent case, on March 17, 2022, Khapalwak Sapai, Director of Tolo News, Bahram Aman, the news anchor, and Nafai Khaliq, the legal affairs manager of the television, were arrested.
Officials of the Islamic Emirate have not yet commented on the arrests of these journalists and media workers.
The Afghan Journalists Safety Committee believes that the detention of journalists and media workers has a negative impact on the general state of the media and media work in the country. It also affects freedom of expression, information sharing to the Afghan citizens, and the right to access information, and is in complete conflict with the Mass Media Law which was recently declared enforceable by the Islamic Emirate.
Hence, the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee calls for a serious investigation of these arrests and asks the officials of the Islamic Emirate to re-activate the Media Violation Investigation Commission to prevent further such incidents.