Nava Thakuria
Geneva, 17 February 2023: Press Emblem Campaign, the global media
safety and rights body, demands an immediate release of Afghan journalist
Mortaza Behboudi, who was arrested on 7 January by the Taliban regime
in Kabul. Though Afghanistan did not report any incident of
journo-murder last year, the troubled south-east Asian nation
maintains its pathetic record over media
persons, hundreds of whom have already escaped the poverty-stricken
country since the Taliban grabbed the power.
Recently, the Afghanistan Journalists Center called for an immediate
and unconditional release of Mortaza, who possesses dual nationality
(Afghan and French) for some years and is presently held in a Kabul
prison. It also expressed concern that the whereabouts and the current
situation of Mortaza have not been disclosed. The centre urged the
Islamic Emirate (Taliban) authorities to release the award-winning
journalist.
“Afghanistan continues to reflect the poor press freedom situation, where
journalists are routinely facing threats, insults, detentions and
physical assaults. Over 600 active Afghan media outlets now cease to
operate. More than one hundred Afghan journalists were temporarily detained
by the authorities last year. The female journalists are facing the most
challenging time there. We demand authorities to ensure press freedom,”
said Blaise Lempen, president of PEC.
The south Asia representative of PEC (www.pressemblem.ch), Nava
Thakuria revealed that Mortaza began his career as a photojournalist
and later fled his country to Paris. Soon Mortaza started contributing
news and articles for a number of French newspapers and news channels.
Even he took assignments from various media outlets in France. With
such an assignment Mortaza arrived in Kabul on 5 January and
subsequently he was detained by the Taliban agencies.
