Taliban urged to probe abuse against journalist

DUBAI: The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on the Taliban to “immediately investigate the detention and alleged abuse in custody of Afghan journalist Mohib Jalili, and hold the perpetrators accountable.”

Steven Butler, the CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, said: “The Taliban must stop the arbitrary detention, abuse, and beatings of Afghan journalists like Mohib Jalili and hold the group’s intelligence agents responsible for such actions.”  

He added: “Repeated attacks on the media are only depriving the people of Afghanistan with access to essential information, which is a basic right.”

Armed men from the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence arrested Jalili on Saturday. While in detention, intelligence agents beat him with a gun, resulting in a large welt on his left arm, and called him names such as the “devil journalist who ruins the Taliban’s reputation,” he told the CPJ.

They also slapped him, accused him of spying for foreign countries, and checked the contents of his phone for three hours, he added.

Jalili was held for three hours without any charges, and when he was released, an agent threatened him not to talk about the detention to any journalist or media outlets.

Fellow journalist and press freedom advocate Sharif Hassanyar took to Twitter to spread the message and share images of the abuse.

Violence against journalists and media workers has doubled since the Taliban seized power in August last year, according to the Afghanistan Journalists Center.

Almost half of media outlets have ceased operations since the takeover, according to a joint report by the center and the Afghan Independent Journalists Association.