Repression of media personnel continues in Afghanistan as Taliban detains journalist in Kapisa province

Kabul [Afghanistan], September 13 : Amid the ongoing crackdown on journalists in Afghanistan, another incident has come to light as a local journalist in the central province of Kapisa, Abdul Hanan Mohammadi has been detained by the Taliban for almost three months now without any crime, the family of the arrested journalist said in a statement, TOLOnews reported.
"They didn't accept my complaint and didn't let me see him...my son is innocent and I wish he was free," Mohammadi's mother said, adding that her son was detained while covering a news event in Kapisa.
In another statement, Mohammadi's brother, Abdullah Khan said, "My brother was a journalist and was preparing a report. We call on the Islamic Emirate to release him."
However, the deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, Bilal Karimi denied the allegations and said, "He is not detained because of being a journalist. The intelligence and security departments might have arrested him for other issues."
According to Khaama Press, Deputy Head of Afghanistan's Freelance Journalists Union, Farhad Behroz said that the case of Mohammadi and other journalists in detention should be directly pursued through the commission as the media-supporting organization voiced concerns over the atrocities against media personnel in Afghanistan and their unlawful detentions.
According to UNAMA, there have been significant changes in the country's media landscape, including the closure of more than half of the free media, the evacuation of hundreds of journalists, and rising work restrictions, violence, and threats against journalists.
Notably, the ever-increasing restrictions against media in Afghanistan have also drawn widespread criticism globally with the United Nations (UN) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) decrying the arrests, demanding the Taliban stop harassing local journalists and stifling freedom of speech through continued detentions and threats.
With the consistent arbitrary arrests of journalists by the Taliban, the media in Afghanistan faces several restrictions.
Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in mid-August last year, it rolled back women's rights advances and media freedom revoking the efforts on gender equality and freedom of speech in the country.
Over 45 per cent of journalists have quit since the Taliban assumed power.
The Taliban had promised women's rights, media freedom, and amnesty for government officials in the group's first news conference after the takeover in August. However, activists, former government employees, and journalists among others continue to face retribution.