MOSCOW,April 10, 2011
Threats to the Afghan journalists community based in Moscow has become a normal affair.
Ironically, the threats come from the Afghan community itself.
As Afghan migrants and refugees in Russia lack a united and consensual association, disagreements originating from contest over leadership of the Afghans there has extended its affects to the Afghan journalists community as well.
There are 14 Afghan journalists who work with official or private and international media outlets from Russia.
Four associations of Afghans operate in Moscow only after failing to come together under a unitary umbrella.
The most recent example of such pressures and threats from inside the Afghan community to Afghan journalists that continue since a year is messages Zohal Sarhad received.
Zohal is a reporter for the Voice of Russia Radio and Afghanistan.ru website. She told the Afghanistan Journalists Center that she published photos and report of the opening ceremony of the Committee of Afghan Women in Russia. Somebody from the so-called the National Association of Russia-based Afghans called her asking her to delete the report and photos from the sites, according to Zohal.
Two weeks before Nawroz of the new Solar year 1390, the association and the committee organized conferences on the International Women Day and for celebrating Nawroz. Reports and photos of the two ceremonies were also posted on the afghanistan.ru website.
Again, Afghans citing their representation of different associations, called her to remove the photos from the website. Zohal said she was threatened and humiliated over the phone by the callers.
Omar Nesar, director of the Center for contemporary Afghan Studies and chief editor of Afghanistan.ru said the editorial staff and him has been threatened and pressured systematically.
“We have received calls three times ordering us to remove parts of contents of our website,” Nisar told AFJC.
However, Nisar said, the journalists will not surrender to pressures and threats from callers and that they will continue to cover issues related to the Afghan community in exile professionally and honestly.