January 3, 2023
Herat - The Afghanistan Journalists Center today welcomed the release of a former journalist for Nowruz Radio station Khalid Qaderi, and called on Taliban authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the two other journalists who are in prison in Kabul and Khost.
Qaderi, a former presenter for Radio Nowruz, was detained on March 17, 2022, in the western city of Herat and sentenced to one year on April 26. He was not given access to a defense lawyer and was forced to sign a statement waiving his right to appeal, according to reports.
According to the AFJC’s report on the status of media, freedom in Afghanistan released on December 2022, press freedom in the country is rapidly fading. AFJC recorded a total of 260 violations including threats, detentions, and violent confrontations, which is a sharp 138% increase from 2021.
Of the total number of events recorded in 2022, at least 119 journalists and media workers were temporarily detained, the majority of which have been accompanied by physical and psychological violence, insults, and humiliation of detainees.
AFJC said: “We welcome the release of Khalid Qaderi, but it is apparent that he should never have been arrested in the first place.” We call on the Islamic Emirate authorities to immediately and unconditionally release journalists Qudratullah Tarrar, a reporter for Zarghun TV in the southeastern city of Khost, and freelance journalist Faizullah Faizbakhsh in Kabul."