Three Afghan Journalists Released by Taliban

The Taliban have released three employees of Afghanistan's largest television station after they were detained for reporting that the country's new rules had severe consequences for media freedoms.

TOLOnews reported that the Taliban had banned all broadcasts of foreign drama series, according to the channel's executive.

TOLOnews employees were taken from the station in Kabul on Thursday evening, and three of them were arrested, according to Khpalwak Sapai, the channel's head of news who was one of those arrested. Later on Thursday, Sapai and Nafay Khaleeq, the station's legal adviser, were both released after being detained for several hours.

The station said that news anchor Bahram Aman was held overnight and released on Friday evening.

“After almost 24 hours I have been released from prison. I will always be the voice of the people,” Aman wrote on his Facebook page.

“Our job is to deliver information to the people,” said Sapai in a statement issued by the network after Aman’s release.

“For this reason we always suggest that any issue related to the media or TOLOnews be shared through the Ministry of Information and Culture.”

Media company Moby Group, which owns TOLOnews, said the station was detained after it reported "about the banning of foreign drama series" - a move by the Taliban-appointed Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

In a statement issued in response to the arrests, the Taliban's secret service warned that they would not permit anyone to violate "Islamic principles" or threaten the "mental and psychological security" of Afghan citizens.

“Some media outlets were reporting cases that offended the religious sentiments of the community and threatened our national security,” the statement said. “In addition, the evil and vicious elements were receiving their propaganda material against the state from the contents of these media.”

Both the United Nations and the Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the arrests and urged the Taliban to stop harassing Afghan journalists and suppressing free expression through threats, arrests, and intimidation.

“The Taliban must immediately … stop detaining and intimidating members of the Afghanistan press corps,” a statement from CPJ said.

The UN mission in Afghanistan expressed “its deep concern about the detentions of journalists and the ever increasing restrictions being placed on media in Afghanistan.”

The mission, known as UNAMA, said on Twitter: “Time for the Taliban to stop gagging & banning. Time for a constructive dialogue with the Afghan media community.”

“We will not allow anyone to trample our Islamic and national values … that threaten the security of our people and our nation,” the Taliban’s intelligence agency said in a statement soon after Aman was released.

Under the "religious guidelines" announced by the Taliban last November, female journalists have been encouraged to follow a dress code deemed appropriate by the Taliban. These restrictions, as well as a tightening of controls on news reporting, have been undertaken to protect the "national interest".

Taliban has been accused of backing down on its promise to protect women's rights and freedom of the press.

Since regaining power in August, the Taliban has sent erratic signals about how the media landscape will look under its rule, with international journalists sometimes welcomed and Afghan media often attacked.

After the United States withdrew last August, the number of Afghan journalists shrank dramatically as tens of thousands of Afghans fled or were evacuated by foreign governments and organizations. Those who remain, as well as those who do not, have run into Taliban members and say that they are afraid of what the future holds.

Women make up the majority of TOLOnews' reporters and producers. Samai, the station's executive director, said he made a special effort to recruit and train Afghan women journalists.

Reporters Without Borders and the Afghan Independent Journalist Association reported, in December, that 231 media outlets out of 543 have closed, while more than 6,400 journalists have been terminated since the Taliban took control of the government. Several media outlets in the country have closed due to a lack of funding or the departure of journalists, according to the report.