The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is deeply concerned over the mass arrests on January 14 of journalists working in the Paiman daily published from Kabul.

According to the Afghan Independent Journalists' Association (AIJA), an IFJ affiliate, seven journalists working with the daily were arrested along with another member of staff following the publication of an article titled "A Prediction of a Third World War" on January 10.

A council of the Ulema (Islamic scholars) held that the article was blasphemous in nature.

Afghanistan's Media Commission, which has ultimate authority in such matters, held the article to be offensive to religious beliefs and referred it to the office of the Attorney-General for further action.

The arrested journalists are identified as Mahsa Taee, Khairullah Azad, Nasir Ahmad Yaqoobi, Nazari Paryani, Hassan Azeemi, Mubarkshah Shahram and Jawad Ehrari. The other employee of the daily to be arrested is identified as a driver, Mujeeb.

Following a public apology by the daily, which said publication of the article was due to a technical error in its layout and production section, six of the journalists and the driver were released.

Nazar Paryani continues to be detained, the AIJA said.

"The IFJ calls on the Afghan authorities to release Nazar Paryani immediately," Jacqueline Park, IFJ Asia-Pacific Director said.

The IFJ extends its support to the AIJA in its effort to see that media freedom in Afghanistan is not throttled by application of blasphemy laws and to ensure that media personnel are not intimidated or detained in the course of their work.

For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +612 9333 0919

The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 123 countries