Two Afghan Journalists Freed After Nine Months, Rasa TV Still Shut
Two reporters from the private Afghan broadcaster Rasa TV have been released after spending around nine months in detention, according to the Afghanistan Journalists Center. Ghulam Mohiuddin Sahibzada, the channel’s director, and reporter Jihadmal Habibi were released from Bagram prison around 4 p.m. on December 15. However, media restrictions on Rasa TV remain in place, and the Taliban authorities have yet to permit the station to resume broadcasting.
According to published information, Taliban intelligence forces arrested the two journalists in Kabul on February 19 on charges of “propaganda against the regime.” During the arrest, Rasa TV’s computers and equipment were confiscated, and the office was shut down—a move press freedom groups consider a serious restriction on freedom of expression.
The Afghanistan Journalists Center said a Taliban court sentenced the reporters to 10 months in prison on March 24. The organization stressed that the trial took place without legal representation and failed to meet the standards of a fair judiciary process.
Rasa TV was established in 2019 in Kabul and focused on covering social issues and everyday life in Afghanistan. Media activists say the ongoing closure of the station reflects continued pressure on independent media across the country.
The journalists’ advocacy group has called on the Taliban to immediately allow Rasa TV to resume operations and to remove obstacles facing media outlets. It also reported that at least five other journalists and media workers are currently detained in Afghanistan, some of whom have also been sentenced by Taliban courts.
Meanwhile, Mohajer Farahi, the Taliban deputy minister for publications at the Ministry of Information and Culture, recently told the Bangladeshi newspaper Prothom Alo that no journalists are currently in detention in Afghanistan—a claim that contradicts independent media reports.
