A Taliban court in Ghor province in the west of Afghanistan on Thursday sentenced two journalists and a media worker to 18 days to two months in prison on charges of forging documents, two sources from the province confirmed.
According to a source, Jahandad Hakimi, a journalist at Taliban-controlled National Radio and TV network and Abdul Ghafoor Abbasi an administrative official in the media organization was sentenced to 18 days in jail and Laila Nayil, a former journalist in the media outlet, was sentenced to two months in prison.
“Laila was alleged to forging her name on the national identity card, and she needed the officials’ approval, including a former administrative official, Alauddin Mohammadi, who all were arrested by Taliban and the court session was held yesterday (Thursday),” said a source.
Sources said that Alauddin Mohammadi, a former administrative official from the TV network, and Mohammad Arif, an administrative official, were arrested three weeks ago on charges of the same case and were released on bail.
Afghanistan’s media have faced many restrictions by the Taliban over the past 16 months.
Afghanistan Journalists’ Center in an annual report said that cases of violence against journalists more than doubled in 2022 compared to 2021.
The organization said that 260 cases of violence against journalists and media workers were recorded in 2022.
According to the center, two journalists – Khalid Qaderi and Faizullah Faizbakhsh – were released from Taliban custody this week, but Qudratullah Tarar, a journalist from Zarghon TV in Khost, is still in Taliban custody since November 11, 2022.
