Ali Sina Khodayar
|
Zohra radio station |
managing director |
arrest |
GDI |
Jun 1 |
Kunduz |
- |
Neda Mohammad Noori
|
Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) |
reporters |
arrest |
GDI |
May 6 |
Charikar |
Neda Mohammad Noori was detained by the provincial intelligence department at 8 AM on May 4 while commuting from his home to the office in Charikar, the capital of Parwan province. A local source stated that he was detained for collaborating with an exiled Afghan media outlet. |
Ismail Saadat, Vahidullah Masoom, Ehsanullah Tasal
|
local radio stations |
reporters |
arrest |
Department of Virtue and Vice in Khost |
Apr 21 |
Khost |
Ismail Saadat, a reporter for Naz Radio; Vahidullah Masoom, a reporter for Iqra Radio; and Ehsanullah Tasal, a reporter for Wolas Ghag (Voice of the People) Radio, were summoned by the Department of Virtue and Vice in Khost on April 21 and detained on charges of publishing music and communicating with female listeners. After six days in detention, they were released upon committing not to violate the ban on music and communication with female audiences again. |
Noor and Baya TV channels
|
Private media outlets |
- |
Ban, Closure |
MCRVC, ministry of information and culture |
Apr 17 |
Kabul |
The Media Complaints and Rights Violations Commission, operating under the supervision of the Ministry of Information and Culture, banned the two broadcasters for what it described as violations of "national and Islamic values." |
Habib-ur-Rahman Taseer
|
Azadi radio |
reporter |
arrest |
GDI |
Apr 6 |
Ghazni |
Taseer, a Pashto-language reporter for Azadi Radio—an affiliate of the U.S. Agency for Global Media based in Prague—was detained by the Taliban's General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) in Ghazni province. A local Taliban official in Ghazni reported that Taseer was subsequently sentenced by the provincial court to two years and six months of imprisonment for what was described as propaganda against the Taliban. |
Hamyon Afghan
|
- |
reporter and operator of "HA" YouTube-based broadcaster |
arrest |
Taliban police |
Mar 24 |
Kabul |
Homayon Afghan, a reporter and operator of the YouTube-based broadcaster "HA," was detained by Taliban police in Kabul. According to Khalid Zadran, a spokesperson for the Taliban police in Kabul, Afghan was taken into custody after a complaint was filed by a family regarding his report, which included photos of an elderly woman on his YouTube channel without the family's permission. The journalist was reportedly released after one night in detention; however, Zadran did not disclose the circumstances surrounding his release. |
Obaidullah Ahmadi, Aimal Kakar, Atiqullah Rahimi and Islamuddin Sahibzada
|
- |
local reporters |
arrest |
GDI |
Mar 24 |
Kunduz |
Freelance reporter Obaidullah Ahmadi, ToloNews reporter Aimal Kakar, and Killid Radio reporter Atiqullah Rahimi were detained by GDI officers while covering an event at the Kunduz Municipality Hotel. Additionally, Rah-e-Farda TV reporter Islamuddin Sahibzada, who was not present at the event, was summoned and detained by the GDI. According to a local source, the officers confiscated the journalists' smartphones for inspection. Kakar, Rahimi, and Sahibzada were released after three hours of questioning, while Ahmadi remains in custody. He was reportedly implicated in a report about a damaged bridge in the Aliabad district of Kunduz province, which was broadcast by an Afghan media outlet in exile. Local Taliban officials have since confirmed that Ahmadi was released days later, although they did not provide details regarding the exact date or conditions of his release. |
Ramin Amiri
|
Solh TV channel |
managing director |
arrest |
GDI |
Mar 21 |
Herat |
Ramin Amiri was summoned by the Herat intelligence department on March 21 and arrested on charges related to "a financial matter concerning his media work," according to a local source. He was released from jail on May 8 after serving 48 days. It is not yet clear how or under what conditions he was released. |
Dehkada radio station
|
local radio station |
- |
Closure of the radio station |
Ghazni municipality |
Mar 2 |
Ghazni |
The Ghazni municipality has shut down the local radio station, Shamla, for the second time in a week. Despite being properly registered and licensed from different ministry in Kabul, the station was forced to close for failing to pay the municipality's fee for a required local license. After three hours, the radio station was allowed to reopen on the condition that it would comply with the municipality's licensing requirements. |
Shamla radio station
|
local radio station |
- |
Closure of the radio station |
Ghazni municipality |
Mar 10 |
Ghazni |
The Ghazni municipality has shut down the local radio station, Shamla, for the second time in a week. Despite being properly registered and licensed from different ministry in Kabul, the station was forced to close for failing to pay the municipality's fee for a required local license. After three hours, the radio station was allowed to reopen on the condition that it would comply with the municipality's licensing requirements. |