AI calls for release of Noorin TV journalist

KABUL): An influential international human rights watchdog on Tuesday launched a campaign for the release of an Afghan TV journalist who was detained last month over a controversial broadcast .

Nasto Naderi, who works for Noorin TV in Kabul, is known for revealing cases of corruption, criminality and other controversial issues, often implicating high-profile government figures and members of parliament.

A statement from Amnesty International (AI), accusing President Hamid Karzai’s government of detaining Naderi without charge on April 21, said the journalist was “at grave risk of torture or death”.

It quoted Noorin TV manager as saying that the attorney general had summoned Naderi to his office for questioning after the broadcast of a programme critical of the Kabul mayor.

He was arrested without charge and had since been held in the Kabul Detention Centre, without access to a lawyer or court, the statement added.

“As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Afghanistan is legally obliged to protect and respect the right to freedom of expression. The arbitrary arrest of Naderi for peacefully expressing his views clearly violates these obligations,” the group said.

pr/mud

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