“Nan” private radio was blocked in Khost province

Media sources report the attack on the “Nan” private radio in Khost province. It is said that in this incident, a number of employees of this Radio were arrested and threatened, and its tools and equipment were also thrown out.
The Center of Afghan Journalists issued a statement, while confirming this event, and wrote that “Nan” radio has been blocked by the local authorities of the caretaker government in Khost province due to what is called a legal issue and its activities have been stopped.
This institution continued to express its concern about this incident and demanded the reopening of this media as soon as possible and unconditionally.
Quoting local sources, this institution wrote: “today, four employees of Radio Nan were arrested while evacuating the building of this media and were released after about two hours, but Safir Mohammad Zadran, the brother of the owner of the radio, who was arrested a week ago, is not released yet.”
However, the spokesperson of the Khost Police told Afghan Journalists Center that the action of the security forces was based on the verdict of the primary court of that province due to non-payment of the monthly rent of the building to its owner, and this media can continue its activities legally elsewhere.
Earlier, the Afghan Journalists Center published a report on the state of media freedom in Afghanistan in 2023, which states: “Afghan media have experienced severe restrictions in terms of the level of freedom and enjoyment of fundamental and legal rights, and their rights have been has been widely violated.”
This report mentions the registration of at least 168 incidents of violations of journalists’ rights, including one death, 19 injuries, 87 threats and 61 arrests of journalists.
Threatening and arresting journalists and blocking the media are something that has happened many times in Afghanistan and has affected the media work and activities of media workers.