KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban regime has released Ahmad Fahim Azimi, an education activist, after 11 months of captivity, according to Amnesty International.
In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) today, Amnesty International stated that Mr. Azimi should never have been imprisoned for advocating girls’ rights to education.
The rights group expressed gratitude to all who advocated for the activist’s release.
The Taliban authorities have not yet provided any comments regarding the release of the activist.
Mr. Azimi and one of his colleagues, Seddiqullah Afghan, were arrested by the Taliban General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) from their office in Kabul on October 17, 2023.
According to Amnesty International, the activist was working with a local educational organization named Fekre Behtar, which provides educational services in the capital, Kabul.
The Taliban intelligence agency accused him and his colleague of helping the national robotics team leave Afghanistan following the collapse of the previous government and the Taliban takeover.
While his colleague was released on April 9 under the Eid pardon for prisoners granted by the Taliban’s supreme leader, Mr. Azimi remains imprisoned in Pul-e-Charkhi prison.
Since his detention, the UN, rights groups, and activists have repeatedly called for his immediate and unconditional release, emphasizing that his detention is unjust and that he does not have access to a lawyer.
In February, Amnesty International sent a letter to the Taliban director of the intelligence agency, Abdul Haq Wasiq, urging the activist’s immediate release due to his deteriorating health condition in prison.
Since its return to power in Afghanistan three years ago, the Taliban has detained, tortured, and in some cases killed dozens of activists, journalists, poets, and others across the country.
In most cases, the regime accuses them of spying for foreign countries, collaborating with armed resistance groups, or opposing its policies toward women and girls.
