Afghanistan: French-Afghan journalist Mortaza Behboudi must be released immediately

Mortaza Behboudi, a French-Afghan journalist living in France, was arrested on 7 January in Kabul, two days after arriving in Afghanistan, as he was about to collect his press accreditation. He is still being held in the country. The International and the European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) join the appeal of its French affiliates and other media institutions calling for the immediate release of Mortaza Behboudi.

Credits: Christelle Alix / ©UNESCO.

The French journalists’ unions SNJ, SNJ-CGT, CFDT-Journalistes, SGJ-FO, the IFJ and the EFJ join the appeal launched by 15 French media and production companies as well as several French associations and institutions demanding the release of Mortaza Behboudi, who is arbitrarily detained by the Afghan authorities since 7 January.

The SNJ, SNJ-CGT, CFDT-Journalistes and SGJ-FO – members of the IFJ and the EFJ – expect the French authorities to do everything possible to obtain the immediate release of our colleague. Imprisoning a journalist is an attack on the freedom to inform and to be informed.

For more information, please contact IFJ on +32 2 235 22 16

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 146 countries

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