Afghan TV presenter detained, beaten by Taliban in Kabul
Apr 19, 2022
Kabul [Afghanistan], April 19 : Amid the rising concern over media freedom in Afghanistan, another Afghan journalist said that he was detained in Kabul and was beaten.
Mohibullah Jalili, host of 1TV's current affairs program said the reason for his detention is unclear, TOLOnews reported. He said that armed men stopped his car at a checkpoint in the capital city on Friday night and detained him.
"When I asked for the reason for my detention, they told me, 'I understand that you are a journalist and that you are the ones who have ruined this homeland,' and they said, 'Tell me, which country do you work for?'" Jalili said.
"It is very cruel to act like this toward journalists. My uncle was not in the military and had no personal enmity with anyone," said Shafiq, a relative.
Responding to the reports of harassment, Kabul Police Command said they have started a probe into the matter.
"He was beaten by armed individuals in PD15, the police command was not aware of the issues, we set up a delegation to meet closely with Jalili Sahib, but we have not yet received a positive response from him," said Khalid Zadran, spokesperson for the Kabul Police Command.
With the consistent arbitrary arrests of journalists by the Taliban, the media in Afghanistan faces ever-increasing restrictions.
In the last seven months nearly 140 incidents of harassment of Afghan journalists and media workers have been recorded, TOLO news reported citing figures of media-supporting institutions.
