By Zahra Nader
The Afghanistan Federation of Journalists and Media said the Taliban cancelled their press conference on Wednesday and banned them from holding future press conferences without the group’s permission.
“The Islamic Emirate cancelled our press conference without even asking what was on our agenda. They said we have to ask for permission from the Taliban when we want to hold press conferences,” Mir Ali Asghar Akbarzada, a member of the federation, told Rukhshana Media in a phone interview from Kabul.
The federation also issued a statement, confirming the cancellation of the conference, citing the Taliban “verbal” directive.
Akbarzada, also the head of the Afghanistan National Journalists and Reporters Union (ANJRU), said the Taliban called the organizers “criminals” for holding a press conference without the Taliban’s permission.
“The [Taliban] said they don’t recognize the Access to Information Law. The only thing they recognize is that they should be asked for permission,” Akbarzada added.
On late Tuesday, the Afghanistan Federation of Journalists and Media invited local and international media for a press conference to release the result of a survey the organization conducted on the situation of journalists and media employees in the country since the Taliban took power last summer.
The conference was planned to start at 10 am local time. When organizers arrived at the federation’s office, more than 40 Taliban soldiers had already blocked both sides of the street, preventing the journalists from reaching the conference venue, according to Akbarzada.
He told Rukhshana Media that seven armed Taliban entered the venue and cancelled their event, prohibiting them from holding any future conference without permission from the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture.
Although the Taliban have not issued a decree officially banning press conferences, the group banned protests that do not have their approval in early September.
Rukhshana Media could not reach Taliban spokesmen for comment despite several attempts.
A copy of the Afghanistan Federation of Journalists and Media’s report shared with Rukhshana Media shows the Taliban are responsible for 62% of the threats the journalists and media employees face in 28 provinces. It shows that from 1390 journalists and media employees surveyed, 70 % reported facing threat and intimidation.
It shows 318 media outlets have been closed since the Taliban took over the country in mid-August.
From 979 women journalists working in August across the country, only 243 still work.
In December, a survey by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Afghan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA) showed that since the Taliban’s return to power, more than 230 media outlets have closed across Afghanistan, and over 6,400 journalists have lost their jobs, with women journalists “hit hardest.”
Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, they have severely restricted media and freedom of speech, arrested, beaten, and tortured journalists for covering and reporting on political events.
