The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) demands an explanation
from the Afghanistan Government for the arrest of two television journalists this
week.
According to the Afghan Independent Journalists’ Association (AIJA), an
IFJ affiliate, the chief editor of private TV channel Emroze, Fahim Kohdamani, was arrested on March 23 following allegations
that the content of an Emroze broadcast expressed anti-Islamic sentiments offensive
to some Shiite clerics.
Najibullah Kabuli, a member of the Parliament’s lower house and owner of
Emroze, told the AIJA that Kohdamani was arrested
on the orders of Attorney-General Mohammad Eshaq Aloko.
Kabuli said the arrest may have been motivated by the extreme
pressure exerted by powerful clerics on Afghanistan’s
President, Hamid Karzai, and government leaders to prevent media reporting on relations
between Iran and Afghanistan.
Karzai and Interior Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar had also
told him not to publish this type of material, Kabuli told the AIJA.
Kohdamani continues to be held by police.
Ariana TV reporter Ajmal Alamzai was also arrested on March
23 by security officials while on the way to Bakhater
University in Kabul, where he is also a student.
Ariana TV director Ehsanullah Arianzai told the AIJA that Alamzai
was picked up by officials. No explanation was offered to him or his brother,
who was accompanying him.
Alamzai was released late in the evening after interrogation
by the National Directorate of Security.
Alamzai presents news bulletins for Ariana TV and a talk
show program where he interviews politicians and experts about various social
and political matters in Afghanistan.
The arrest of the two journalists comes one week after the
murder of two journalists. Jawed Ahmad was killed by unidentified gunmen in Kandahar and Munir Ahmad Amil was shot dead by a police
officer in Kabul.
The AIJA and the IFJ are extremely concerned for the
security and well-being of media personnel in Afghanistan and call on the Government
to release Kohdamani immediately.
“As Afghanistan
prepares for upcoming elections, the Government must encourage all people
including members of its ministries and religious leaders to direct any complaints
about the media to the Media Violations Commission of the Ministry of
Communication,” IFJ Asia-Pacific
Director Jacqueline Park said.
“The people of Afghanistan need to know what is
happening in their country, particularly in the lead-up to elections. President
Karzai and the Afghanistan
authorities must ensure that journalists are able and allowed to fulfil their
duty to inform the public without fear or threat of arbitrary arrest or
violence.”
The IFJ joins the AIJA in urging Afghanistan’s Government to make a
public commitment to implement the existing Media Violations Commission as a
transparent mechanism for managing public complaints regarding media content.
Both
organisations also called on the Government to conduct
full and transparent investigations into the murders of Jawed Ahmad Yazemi and
Munir Ahmad Amil.
For further
information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific
on +612 9333 0919
The IFJ
represents over 600,000 journalists in
120 countries worldwide