Press Statement

Afghan radio journalists detained in Kandahar

06 Nov, 2017

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate the Afghan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA) in expressing serious concern over the detention of two journalists in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The IFJ urges the Afghan government to immediately release the detained journalists.

Ahmadullah Sarkand, the broadcast manager of Radio Killid, and Bismullah Watandust, a journalist with Radio Shyba, were detained by the National Directorate of Security (NDS). Provincial police claimed that Watandust was detained on October 25 for his Facebook post about arrested cricket player Samih Yousuf that ‘provoked people against the government and police’. The police has registered a case against him. The reason behind Sarkand’s detention in the last week of October has not been clarified.

Hujatullah Mujadadi, the Vice President of AIJA, said: “These detentions violate media laws and the AIJA urges security institutions to immediately act upon the cases and send the cases to the committee that oversee cases of journalists violating laws.” Mujadadi noted that continuation of such situation restricts the works of journalists.

The IFJ said: “The IFJ is concerned by the continuation of arbitrary detention of Afghan journalists by security agencies despite the government’s direction that cases against journalists should only be persuaded on recommendation of the special committee. The IFJ urges immediate release of the journalists.”

Written By

IFJ Asia-Pacific IFJ Asia-Pacific

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 140 countries.
For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +61 2 9333 0946
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