An
Afghan television news presenter said he had been freed by the Taliban on
Friday, a day after the hardline Islamists detained him for reporting that
authorities had banned foreign dramas from local TV screens.
اضافة اعلان
Rights groups have condemned a decline in media freedoms and increasing
attacks on journalists since the Taliban swept back to power last year, with
the United Nations calling for an end to "intimidation and threats against
journalists" after the latest arrest.
TOLOnews, the country's leading independent television network, said earlier
that presenter Bahram Aman had been detained at the channel's office on
Thursday evening along with news director Khpolwak Sapai and legal adviser Nafi
Khaleeq.
"The three were arrested for broadcasting news that the authorities had
banned television channels from airing foreign drama serials," TOLOnews
said in a statement.
Sapai and Khaleeq were released later Thursday.
On Friday, Aman announced his own release.
"After almost 24 hours I have been released from prison. I will always
be the voice of the people," Aman wrote on his Facebook page.
A relative of Aman who asked not to be named confirmed that the journalist
had been freed and that he had previously received threats from the Taliban.
TOLOnews also confirmed Aman's release late on Friday, and the presenter
made a brief appearance on the air.
"Our job is to deliver information to the people," said Sapai in a
statement issued by the network after Aman's release.
"For this reason we always suggest that any issue related to the media
or TOLOnews be shared through the ministry of information and culture."
- Call for 'end to
the intimidation' -
After seizing power in August, the Taliban banned TV stations from
broadcasting dramas or soaps unless they had an Islamic theme, although it was
loosely observed.
They appear now to be more strictly enforcing that directive, which TOLOnews
reported on.
"We will not allow anyone to trample our Islamic and national values...
that threaten the security of our people and our nation," the Taliban's
intelligence agency said in a statement soon after Aman was released.
In recent days, many television channels across Afghanistan have stopped
showing dramas and soaps.
Reports of the trio's arrest prompted a strong reaction from the United
Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
"The UN urges the release of all those taken away by gunmen and an end
to the intimidation and threats against journalists and independent
media," it said on Twitter.
During the Taliban's first stint in power from 1996 to 2001, there was
little Afghan media to speak of and the Islamists banned television, movies and
most other forms of entertainment as immoral.
Despite promising a softer version of their rule since taking power again,
they have cracked down on journalists, critics of the regime, and women
activists demanding rights to work and education.
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