Journalist Held Over Musa Qala Visit Freed
Police deny claims that they sought to curb press freedom.
Journalist Held Over Musa Qala Visit Freed
Police deny claims that they sought to curb press freedom.
Abdul Wadood Hejran, a reporter for Ariana Television in Helmand, was freed on the evening of November 8, after nearly 24 hours in detention following a trip with three other journalists to the Taleban stronghold Musa Qala. (See Police Target Journalists After Taleban Trip)
Hejran, whose colleagues were briefly detained, was unavailable for comment today, November 9, though he did indicate in a brief telephone conversation with IWPR that he was well and back at work.
Hussain Andiwal, police chief of Helmand province, told IWPR that there had been no intent to curb freedom of the press by holding the journalists.
"We do not want to lock journalists' mouths," he said. "But leaving for Musa Qala, where a 15-year-old boy was hanged because he had a one dollar bill in his pocket … the police need to know who is going to these places. If they had been killed, it would have been our responsibility. So we have a right to ask questions."
The journalists on the Musa Qala trip say that they informed the local authorities about their plans to visit the town.
The detention of Hejran was unfortunate, added Andiwal, but dictated by circumstances. On November 8, most of the Helmand police force was occupied with the funeral of Engineer Abdul Matin, the parliamentarian who was killed in a bombing in Baghlan on November 6.
The body was flown from Kabul to Helmand that day, with most of the province's officials in attendance.
"We did not want to jail [the journalists]," he insisted. “But due to the burial ceremony we were delayed. We just wanted to ask them questions."
IWPR has been informed unofficially that its reporter, Aziz Ahmad Tassal, one of the journalists on the Musa Qala trip, is no longer wanted for questioning by the security forces.
On his return from Musa Qala, he had received calls from policemen who said they wanted to interview him. Officers had also come to his home.
Hejran, whose colleagues were briefly detained, was unavailable for comment today, November 9, though he did indicate in a brief telephone conversation with IWPR that he was well and back at work.
Hussain Andiwal, police chief of Helmand province, told IWPR that there had been no intent to curb freedom of the press by holding the journalists.
"We do not want to lock journalists' mouths," he said. "But leaving for Musa Qala, where a 15-year-old boy was hanged because he had a one dollar bill in his pocket … the police need to know who is going to these places. If they had been killed, it would have been our responsibility. So we have a right to ask questions."
The journalists on the Musa Qala trip say that they informed the local authorities about their plans to visit the town.
The detention of Hejran was unfortunate, added Andiwal, but dictated by circumstances. On November 8, most of the Helmand police force was occupied with the funeral of Engineer Abdul Matin, the parliamentarian who was killed in a bombing in Baghlan on November 6.
The body was flown from Kabul to Helmand that day, with most of the province's officials in attendance.
"We did not want to jail [the journalists]," he insisted. “But due to the burial ceremony we were delayed. We just wanted to ask them questions."
IWPR has been informed unofficially that its reporter, Aziz Ahmad Tassal, one of the journalists on the Musa Qala trip, is no longer wanted for questioning by the security forces.
On his return from Musa Qala, he had received calls from policemen who said they wanted to interview him. Officers had also come to his home.
