Karzai Curtails Press Freedoms

KABUL, Afghanistan - The decision by an Afghan daily newspaper to shut down after several of its editors were briefly jailed on blasphemy charges is seen here as the opening salvo in a campaign to quiet the news media in advance of the coming presidential vote.

Payman Daily announced on Feb. 8 that it was closing down after what it described as mounting pressure against its staff after the publication of an article deemed by the Council of Religious Clerics as blasphemous.

In its statement, the newspaper blamed "forces who are against democracy and freedom of speech" for forcing it to suspend publication.

The move has sent a chill through Afghanistan's media community, especially in advance of the presidential vote, now scheduled for Aug. 20.

"The newspaper is widely read, and we were criticizing (President Hamid) Karzai," said Mehsa Tayee, an editor at Payman and one of the seven originally detained. "So the president wanted to suppress the newspaper ahead of the presidential elections." The president's office refused to comment on the allegation.

Many here see the case against the newspaper as a part of the growing trend to use religion as a way to suppress press freedom.

"Media violations are more and more being converted to blasphemy cases," said Rahimullah Samander, head of the Afghan Independent Journalists' Association. "The condition of the media is deteriorating day by day, and the number of journalists arrested is increasing."

"Officials in Kabul have no backing among the citizens of Afghanistan, and they have recently been isolated by the international community as well," said Fazel Rahman Orya, a political commentator for Shamshad Television in Kabul. "Therefore they are trying to show how religious they are, to attract people's support." Pressure, he added, was likely to increase in advance of the presidential vote. "This has created fear in Afghanistan's media," he said.

The controversy began last month when the newspaper published an article concerning an obscure Bulgarian clairvoyant who, among other things, cast doubt of the prophesies of the Prophet Mohammad.

The religious council, in turn, issued a fatwa against the paper, calling those responsible for its publication "apostates" and demanding harsh punishment of its staff.

In Afghanistan "harsh punishment" is commonly understood to mean death.

Payman, for its part, claimed that the article was printed in error, and apologized repeatedly in subsequent editions.

Not satisfied with that response, religious leaders threatened the Karzai government with nationwide protests unless it moved against the alleged perpetrators.

The government responded by calling in seven of the newspaper's employees for questioning. Charges were eventually filed against the news editor, Nazari Paryani.

"Our society cannot tolerate anti-Islamic propaganda," said Attorney General Eshaq Aloko. "This will have negative consequences in the future." Paryani, however, called his detention "against all laws, as well as national and international principles." Samander, of the journalists' association, agreed.

"Nobody has the right to arrest a journalist directly," he said. "The (Payman) case should have been referred to the media violations commission. This shows that the law was not considered." According to the country's media law, the "commission shall investigate the violations of the provisions of this law. If the case requires legal prosecution, it shall be referred to the judiciary organs." Editors at Payman insist this process was never followed.

Regardless of the eventual disposition of the case against Payman and its editor, the threat of severe punishment appears to already be having its desired affect.

"Trust me I am very frightened since this recent case," said Sayed Alim Mushfeq, the editor of the Nawa-e-Kohsar paper in Jowzjan province. "Now I realize that the smallest mistake can lead to prison or even death."