8am: The Free Speech Hub has reported that the Taliban forces had forcibly canceled the news conference of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Before holding the conference, a bunch of Taliban forces rushed to the meeting place, threatening and pressuring the federation’s officials to cancel the conference, according to the FSH’s statement. Click here
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty January 22, 2022 The Taliban has said it has a right to crack down on dissent and to jail protesters amid international concerns about the whereabouts of two women activists who were reportedly detained earlier this week in Kabul. While denying that any women were being held, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi January 21, 2022 The Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan had already left free speech and media freedoms out in the cold. A recent spate of mysterious attacks on activists and journalists has raised fears that the worst may be yet to come. The situation took an alarming turn last week with
Michael Lipin VOA News January 12, 2022 WASHINGTON — A daughter of an Afghan professor detained for four days by Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers says her father has been released thanks to international and domestic pressure. In a VOA interview on Tuesday, Hasina Jalal, who lives in Washington, said her father Faizullah Jalal, a prominent critic of
Al Jazeera: The Taliban have released a prominent university professor and outspoken critic of successive Afghan governments who was arrested during the weekend, a family member said. Hasina Jalal, Faizullah Jalal’s daughter, said on Tuesday that her father had been freed from Taliban custody. The group had accused him of making provocative remarks against the
Ayaz Gul VOA News January 8, 2022 Taliban authorities in Afghanistan on Saturday arrested an outspoken critic of the government, drawing strong calls for his immediate release from civil society activists. Family members said Faizullah Jalal, a professor of law and political science, was seized by security forces from his residence in the Afghan capital,
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi December 3, 2021 Abubakar Siddique Three days after he was taken into custody, the 30-year-old’s body was found along a riverbank on the outskirts of the southern Afghan city of Lashkar Gah. The Taliban claimed that Naweed Azami escaped detention. But his family has accused the militant group of torturing and killing
HRW: Taliban intelligence officials have made death threats against journalists who have criticized Taliban officials and have required journalists to submit all reports for approval before publication. New guidelines from the Vice and Virtue Ministry dictate the dress of female journalists on television and prohibit soap operas and entertainment programs featuring female actors. Click here
By Abubakar Siddique Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty November 22, 2021 Afghan university professor Faizullah Jalal has appeared in debates on Afghanistan’s most popular television channels for years, earning a reputation as an outspoken critic of the country’s leaders. But there are fears that Jalal’s most recent media appearance, during which he lambasted the new Taliban regime,
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty October 28, 2021 The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says justice for 17 Afghan journalists murdered over the past decade is likely to remain elusive after the Taliban’s takeover and the collapse of state institutions. “Taliban leaders appear even less likely than Afghanistan’s previous government to respond to local and international