Mohajer Farahi, the Deputy Minister of Publication for the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture, claimed that currently “no journalist is imprisoned in Afghanistan,” contradicting reports from domestic and international organizations supporting journalists.
Speaking to the Bangladeshi newspaper, Prothom Alo, Farahi stated: “Perhaps if a journalist has murdered someone, they may be detained, but this has nothing to do with their activity as a reporter.”
He specified that the condition for media activity in Afghanistan is adherence to “Islamic and Afghan” values. Farahi added that Western countries use “media outlets and journalists with political objectives to influence” the Taliban.
The Taliban official claimed that allegations regarding the Taliban forcing domestic media to censor content are “mostly raised by America.”
He stated that 370 radio networks are currently active in Afghanistan, and the Taliban has issued thousands of licenses for YouTube channels.
In another part of his remarks, he emphasized that the Taliban would not allow U.S. forces to have a presence in Afghanistan. Mohajer Farahi said that the Taliban would not permit America to use its own forces for the protection of its embassy, even if the embassy were to reopen in Kabul.
Referring to the previous government’s limitations in exerting power over the provinces, the Deputy Minister of Information and Culture stated that the group has succeeded in establishing a central administration in Afghanistan and has control over the entire country.
He mentioned that the Taliban lacked governance experience in the 1990s, and its main goal was to fight for control over the whole nation. The official did not answer a question regarding the group’s policy on girls’ education.
