KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Afghan Independent Journalists Union (AIJU) have condemned the Taliban’s detention of journalist Mahdi Ansary and called for his immediate release.
Ansary, a reporter for the Afghan News Agency (AFKA), was arrested by Taliban intelligence agents in October 2024 in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood of Kabul. A Taliban court recently sentenced him to one and a half years in prison, accusing him of collaborating with “anti-Taliban media” and “spreading propaganda against the regime.”
This is not an isolated case. In 2023, a Taliban court in Daykundi province sentenced Sultan Ali Jawadi, a local journalist and manager of Radio Nasim, to one year in prison on a similar accusation.
In a joint statement on Tuesday, IFJ and AIJU expressed deep concern over the worsening conditions for media and journalists in Afghanistan. The statement highlighted a significant rise in arbitrary arrests and detentions of journalists, as well as the closure of over half of the country’s media outlets in recent years.
“Journalists in Afghanistan continue to face immense challenges, with journalists subject to arrests, violence, and harassment as the Taliban solidify control,” the watchdogs said. They urged the Taliban to end the arbitrary detention of journalists and called on the international community to intervene and advocate for media freedoms and journalists’ rights in Afghanistan.
Since taking power in Afghanistan, the Taliban has issued at least 21 directives that severely restricted press freedom and access to information. The regime has also detained, tortured, and, in some cases, killed dozens of journalists and media workers across the country.
The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC), in its 2024 annual report, highlighted an alarming rise in violations of media and journalist rights under the Taliban. The report documented 131 threats and 50 detentions of journalists during the year, with five journalists currently serving prison sentences ranging from one to five years.
