(RSF/IFEX) – Journalist Khalil Naramgo, who was arrested on 28 October 2006 in the northern province of Baghlan by representatives of the Kabul prosecutor’s office, was released on 2 November. Naramgo was arrested following a complaint by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Farooq Wardak, who accused Naramgo of libelling and insulting him in an article he wrote […]
(RSF/IFEX) – Journalist Khalil Naramgo, who was arrested on 28 October 2006 in the northern province of Baghlan by representatives of the Kabul prosecutor’s office, was released on 2 November.
Naramgo was arrested following a complaint by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Farooq Wardak, who accused Naramgo of libelling and insulting him in an article he wrote in September in “Payame Mojahed”, a weekly that backs the followers of the late Ahmed Shah Massoud. Editor-in-chief Hafez Mansoor said he was questioned by the representatives of the prosecutor’s office about the article.
Afghan journalists told RSF that the article contained no insults but raised questions about Wardak’s influence within the government, asking “Who is running the country, President Karzai or minister Wardak?”
About 100 people in Baghlan province staged a demonstration calling for the journalist’s release.
Naramgo was released on 2 November after signing an apology and an undertaking not to write any more articles criticising government officials. He was able to return to his home in the northern province of Baghlan on 7 November.
