Afghan Association Blogwriters demands immediate release of Kamran Merhazar

Statement of Afghan association blogwriters demands immediate release of Kamran Mehrazar the editor of Kabul Press website

Afghan PenLog is express its concern about the detention of independent journalist Kamran Merhazar by Afghan special police agency NDS.

Kamran Merhazar was picked up on Wednesday, at 11:00 am by four plain clothed police who pretending to be Afghan police agency NDS. They pointed that Merhazar was picked up for questioning but within 24 hours he has been in custody with no phone and no legal representation. As far as we know no criminal charges have yet been made against him.

The NDS has not issued any kind of statement about why they have detain Merhazar other than they wanted to question him.

Speculation about why Merhazar was been detained varies from accusations he was “critical of government” in some stories he published, to being accused of “being a spy”. some media resources believe he has been detained because he published a story revealing salaries and conditions of senior government officials and ministers. The document he sourced securing this information is claimed to be confidential government information. Another theory is because he was connected to an article published in Kabul Press about an advisor to the government that the article suggested “may have links” to ISI, Pakistan’s secret intelligence agency.

Afghan PenLog is deeply concrerned that Merhazara has been illegally detained as no criminal charges have been laid against him. Afghan PenLog ugre NDS and government of Afghanistan to release Kamran Merhazar and follow legitimate legal process when investigating issues around freedom of information and the reputation of government and it’s officials.

the Association of Afghan Blogwriters
Afghan Penlog