KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Afghanistan Journalist Center (AFJC) reports that Taliban agents raided the office of the private TV station Arezo TV in Kabul, shut it down, and detained seven employees.
In a statement, the AFJC said Taliban intelligence agents and its morality police raided the office of the TV station in the Karte Seh area of Kabul at around 9:30 am local time on Wednesday, December 4.
The media watchdog cited sources saying that Taliban agents physically assaulted the station’s security guards, mistreated employees, and confiscated their mobile phones to prevent outside communication.
According to the AFJC statement, Taliban agents continued inspecting and questioning the TV station’s employees until 3 pm, arresting seven individuals, including Kabul office director Amanullah Azimi and presenter Amir Hossein Atryan.
The Taliban authorities have not yet officially commented on the incident. However, a notice posted on the TV station’s door stated that the station was closed “due to the broadcasting of immoral and vulgar series” and that the office would remain sealed until further notice.
Established in 2006 in Mazar-e-Sharif, Balkh province, and with an office opened in Kabul in 2010, Arezo TV broadcasts news, “wildlife documentaries,” and “Islamic series” dubbed from Turkish into Persian, according to the AFJC.
The station’s Kabul office employs around 70 people, including eight journalists, who produce 60% of the station’s programs and content, the watchdog added.
The AFJC strongly condemned the closure of Arezo TV office in Kabul as a clear violation of the station’s rights, urging Taliban authorities to release its employees unconditionally, reopen the station, and allow it to operate in accordance with Afghanistan’s media laws.
Since returning to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban, despite previously acknowledging the Afghanistan Media Law, which prohibits interference with press activities, has issued at least 21 directives that significantly restricted press freedom in the country.
The Taliban’s media restrictions have resulted in the closure of more than half of Afghanistan’s once-thriving free media outlets. According to AFJC’s latest report, at least 12 TV stations have been shut down this year in Afghanistan, either by direct Taliban orders or as a result of their media restrictions.
The Taliban’s newly enacted so-called “morality law,” which bans the broadcast of images of living beings, has worsened the situation, leading to the closure of many TV stations, including state-run channels, in the country in recent months.
