According to a report by the Afghanistan Journalist Center (AFJC), the Taliban Directorate of Intelligence prison has released Mirza Hasani, former owner and editor of Radio Aftab, a local radio station in Daikundi province of central Afghanistan, after four months of detention.

Hasan was arrested at a checkpoint in Herat city while trying to move to Iran for a safer life on May 24, when the agents of the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) searched his phone. After seeing journalistic posts on his social media accounts, they suspected him of working as a reporter for the National Resistance Front (NRF) and transferred him to the intelligence agency’s prison in Kabul.

He was released on Sunday afternoon, his wife Sakina Rahimi confirmed to AFJC via a messaging app.

AFJC said: “We welcome the release of journalist Mirza Hasani, but we stress that he should never have been detained in the first place. If authorities had any grievances or found the reports biased, they could pursue the issue via the Media Complaints Commission, not by illegally detaining the reporters.”

AFJC also called upon authorities to “release Journalist Khalid Qadiri who was sentenced to one year in prison in May for allegedly spreading anti-Islamic Emirate propaganda and committing espionage for foreign media outlets, and urge them to ensure journalists can do their work without interference, fear, or reprisal.”

Based on the AFJC’s finding there have been a total of 245 cases of violations against media freedom in Afghanistan, including 130 cases of short-term detention of journalists during one year of Taliban rule.

These detentions, which lasted from one hour to several hours and even some months often included physical violence, insults, and even torture of journalists.

Photo: AFJC