Afghan journalists protest raid on TV station

April 19, 2007|Amir Shah, Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan -- More than 100 journalists yesterday protested a police raid ordered by Afghanistan's attorney general on a private TV station that has fueled concern over growing government harassment of the media.

Attorney General Abdul Jabar Sabit said he ordered police into the Kabul office of Tolo TV late Tuesday to "summon" reporter Hamed Haidary for reporting that Sabit had called for the hanging of a number of convicts. Sabit said he was misquoted by the reporter.

Tolo -- the biggest private TV network in Afghanistan -- insisted that the remarks were Sabit's, and replayed parts of a video of Sabit making the comments several times during the night.

More than 100 journalists gathered yesterday in front of Parliament to condemn the raid and call for the suspension of the attorney general. They chanted, "Long live journalism! Long live freedom of speech!"

Dozens of armed police took part in the raid and rounded up three Tolo employees outside the network's office in the capital -- although not Haidary, as the network's security blocked police from going inside the building.

Four employees of The Associated Press who were observing the raid from outside were also detained. Several of the detainees were kicked or punched by police.

All seven were taken to Sabit's office and were freed about 40 minutes later without charge, after signing a paper saying they didn't need hospitalization. They were offered no explanation for their detention and told to leave.

Sabit said the Tolo employees detained by police were not ill-treated. He said he would investigate why the AP employees were rounded up in the raid and apologized for the police's behavior.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said it was concerned about the police action against Tolo and the manhandling and detention of the journalists, calling for a government an investigation.