Freed reporter criticises Afghan media crackdown

Journalist Mortaza Behboudi, who had spent 284 days in jail in Afghanistan, said he thought he would never make it out alive. 

The French-Afghan reporter was covering a gathering of students in front of Kabul University when he was arrested in January this year. 

He was imprisoned just two days after entering Afghanistan. 

What followed next were "10 months of torture," Behboudi, 29, told a news conference in Paris on Monday following his release from prison last week.

He said he was beaten by his jailers, nearly choked to death by members of the Islamic State group, and questioned by the Taliban government's intelligence services. 

"You know in these countries interrogations by intelligence services are not at all easy," he told the news conference organised by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

- 'Journalism stifled' -

Behboudi refused to go into detail about the abuse he said he suffered out of concern for other journalists who are still imprisoned in Afghanistan.

"We don't know if they will be released soon," Behboudi said.

Originally from Afghanistan, he became a refugee in France in 2015 where he set up a news site, Guiti News, with other exiles from Afghanistan.

After seizing power in 2021, the Taliban has cracked down hard on what had been seen as a thriving sector.

"Journalism has largely been stifled since the Taliban came to power," said Christophe Deloire, RSF director general.

According to the press advocacy group, "more than half" of media outlets have disappeared.

Of the country's 12,000 journalists, barely 4,800 are still working now, and "more than 80 percent of female journalists" have been forced to quit their jobs, RSF says.

Behboudi planned to write about female students who could no longer pursue their studies in Kabul when he was arrested.

Officials had initially promised a softer version of the strict Islamic rule that characterised their first stint in power from 1996 – 2001, but restrictions affecting women have gradually been reintroduced.

Teenage girls have been banned from attending most secondary schools and women from universities, and last year women were prohibited from entering parks, funfairs, gyms and public baths.

Women are also barred from travelling without a male relative and have been told they must cover up, with a veil or burqa when outside the home.

Most women have lost their government jobs –- or are being paid a tiny salary to stay at home.

- 'Kidnapped' -

Behboudi said neither his French passport nor his press cards saved him from arrest by the Taliban government's intelligence services. He was accused of being a spy and supporting the anti-Taliban "resistance" and jailed.

"I felt kidnapped," he said. He shared tiny cells, measuring just two to three square metres, with a dozen other inmates including members of the Islamic State group. 

He said he was "harassed all the time", could not see the sky and lost track of time. 

Speaking to broadcaster France Inter on Tuesday, the journalist, who is a representative of the Hazara ethnic minority group, said several members of the Islamic State group tried to choke him in his sleep.

"They wanted to strangle me one night," he said, adding that the guards intervened and transferred him to another cell.

The Islamic State, a Sunni jihadist group, has for years targeted predominantly Shiite Hazaras and other religious minorities.

More than six months into his ordeal a delegation of Taliban officials came to see him. 

Afterwards he was transferred to Pul-e-Charkhi prison in Kabul where conditions improved. He also learnt that RSF had hired a lawyer to defend him.

Last week, the journalist was finally freed after all charges against him, including espionage and illegal support for foreigners, were thrown out at a court hearing in Kabul.

Taliban officials have issued directives on the protection of detainees' rights, but a recent report by the UN mission in Afghanistan said prisoners were still subject to mistreatment and urged the authorities to put a stop to abuses.

The interior ministry this week said an internal investigation had found evidence of mistreatment at its detention centers and that it was working to address the issue. 

Asked about his plans for the future, Behboudi said he wanted to "move on". 

He admits he was fortunate and that other Afghan journalists do not have the "support of Western media and the international community".

Under the Taliban, "everything is censored these days", Behboudi said.

"If I a take photo on the street, I risk being arrested," he said. "There is no longer freedom of expression, there is no longer freedom of the press in Afghanistan."

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