KABUL (SW) – Officials at the Ministry of Information and Culture say that the journalists who were arrested by the security forces will be released them after investigating the reason for their arrest.
According to published reports, on Sunday of last week, security forces arrested Bakhtar Agency reporter Sayed Wahdatullah Abdali in Ghazni, followed by two local journalists Faqir Muhammad Faqirzai and Janagha Saleh arrested in Nangarhar on Thursday. Also, last Thursday, the local reporter of Salam Watandar, Hasibullah Hassah, and the reporter of Ariana News, Habibullah Sarab, were arrested by the security forces in Paktia.
So far, no details have been given about the reason for the arrest of these journalists. At the same time, the officials of the Ministry of Information and Culture say they have have no idea about the reasons.
Meanwhile, Hayatullah Mohajer Farahi, the director for broadcasting at this Ministry, told Salam Watandar that after investigating the reason for arresting the journalists, they will try to release them. He said: “We do not have any information about the arrest of those journalists who are arrested for their media work, and after investigating the reason for their arrest, we are making efforts to release them.”
On the other hand, some journalists are worried about the recent increase in arrests of journalists and say that the continuation of this situation will discourage journalists from their work. They want the authorities of the Islamic Emirate to release the arrested journalists without any delay.
A journalist, Samiullah Alkozi, told Salam Watandar: “The recent arrests of journalists is disappointing and the continuation of the current situation will affect the continuation of media activities. Journalists, as ordinary residents of the society, do not belong to any political party, and arresting him is worrying.”
It is worth noting that earlier the officials of the Ministry of Information and Culture said that no security organization has the right to interfere in the work of journalists and all the cases of journalists will be evaluated by the Media Commission only.
ENDS
