Journalists harassed on Election Day: NAI

KABUL (Pajhwok): A free media advocacy organisation on Monday praised Afghan security forces for protecting voters on the Election Day, but lamented mistreatment of journalists.

NAI Director Sadiqullah Tawhidi told a press conference in Kabul that despite the hardships they faced, journalists had been able to impartially cover the April 5 elections.

Tawhidi hailed Afghan forces for ensuring security, saying the forces had spent rainy nights in the open to protect election sites and enable people to cast votes in a peaceful environment.

However, he recalled some journalists were intimidated during the process. A Pajhwok Afghan News cameraman was beaten and his camera broken by Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers in the Lalpura district of Nangarhar province.

On the eve of the historic vote, a foreign journalist was gunned down and her colleague critically wounded by a police officer in southeastern Khost province.

Tawhidi said a reporter with 1TV was roughed up by a candidate’s supporters when he attempted to record underage individuals casting votes in Nangarhar.

One reporter in Takhar and another in Logar were also threatened while trying to record a fraud scene, he said.

Another reporter with 1TV channel was beaten by supporters of former presidential candidate Qayyum Karzai a day after the elections.

The reporter was capturing a scene of supporters hitting a man who was demanding back the money he had spent on campaigning for Qayyum Karzai.

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