Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty December 13, 2023 Afghan and international media watchdogs have condemned Afghanistan’s hard-line Islamist Taliban rulers for handing down a one-year sentence to journalist Sultan Ali Jawadi on unspecified charges and called for his immediate release, along with the freeing of another recently detained media member. In a December 12 statement, the Afghanistan
8am: The Taliban possesses several official and well-known YouTubers who are engaged in whitewashing this group. Although Humayun Afghan is not an official and public supporter of the Taliban, in some cases, following the YouTubers of the Taliban, he promotes in favor of the Taliban. It is not clear if he is doing this to
VOA News October 24, 2023 An Afghan-French journalist who spent 284 days imprisoned in Afghanistan has recalled how he was beaten, nearly choked, and interrogated. Speaking at a news conference in the French capital, Paris, on Monday, the newly released Mortaza Behboudi said he didn’t think he would make it out of custody alive. The
8am: The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) has reported that over the past two years, the Taliban have issued 13 directives systematically limiting media freedom and access to information in the country. On the occasion of the International Day for Universal Access to Information,” this organization released a statement on Thursday, September 28, asserting that the
Akmal Dawi VOA News August 30, 2023 In 2016, a young girl, whom we will call Zarghona to protect her identity, embarked on a remarkable journey in central-south Afghanistan. At just 14 years old, she joined a local radio station in Ghazni province, eager to make her voice heard. Initially entrusted with a daily entertainment
Naqiba Barekzai Abubakar Siddique August 29, 2023 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Hora Sadat, a female YouTuber, built a large social-media following by producing light-hearted videos about life in Afghanistan. Even after the Taliban seized power in 2021, the 25-year-old remained unfazed. She continued to generate content for her more than 300,000 subscribers despite the militant group’s attempts
Khaama: After two years of uncertainty and press restrictions, the Taliban has presented a draft for a new media law in Afghanistan, seeking approval from their leader. Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson of the de facto administration, revealed that the country’s new media law draft has been finished and forwarded to the supreme leader for approval.
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi August 23, 2023 An Afghan press freedom organization has called for the release of an Iranian photojournalist detained by the Taliban, which has arrested around a dozen reporters over the past two weeks. The semioffical Tasnim news agency in Iran reported on August 22 that Taliban security agents had apprehended its
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi August 16, 2023 International press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called for the release of nine Afghan journalists arbitrarily arrested by Taliban security forces this month. Antoine Bernard, RSF’s director of advocacy and assistance, said on August 16 that RSF wants the “unconditional release” of all nine Afghan journalists. “The
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi August 14, 2023 Two more journalists have been arrested by Taliban authorities in southern Afghanistan, where women’s voices were also barred from radio broadcasts. A source who requested anonymity told RFE/RL that Taliban forces arrested journalists Attaullah Omar and Waheedur Rahman Afghanmal in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar on August 13. Omar is