Freedom of Expression – Afghan Human Rights Home

Najibullah Musafer famous Afghan artist and photographer transferred to Puli- Charkhi Prison.

Najibullah Musafer the father of Afghan Photography, director of 3^rd Eye Film & Photojournalism Center, Photojournalist at Killed Group, sentenced to six months in prison and was transferred to Puli Charkhi prison where dozen of terrorist and Taliban members are in.

He received a letter from the second primary court and police office, that he have to come, when the latter comes Musafir was working and he leaves office to visit police station.

The police took him to the central police station court, he was under pressure of the police officers, the court sentenced him to six months charge in jail, where he wasn’t present at the court.

Professor Musafer was attended to Gazi Studoum where President Karzai was at an event spot ceremony, where dozen local and foreign journalists have been attended too in 2005.

Two young ladies were carrying a symbolic status for encouraging national sport, he take photos and the afterward the photos were sold to another advertising company.

The advertising company misused the photo widely with his partner Etisalat tele company at that time for industry promotion.

One of the girls went to police and to Etisalat, that why they replaced the national sport symbol to Etisalat Logo by Photoshop ?

Afghan justice institutions by receiving near 50 thousand dollars as bribes from companies to resolve their case and unfortunately Mr. Musafer a well known artist, photographer is imprisoned on charges of taking and sell photo.

Najibullah Musafer was born in Qol Abchakan of De Afghanan area in Kabul city in 1963. He got his certificate from Faculty of Fine Arts in Kabul University in the field of drawing. In addition to interest in design and color from the beginning, Musafer was interested in filming and photography too. Having primary facilities, he recorded seconds and hunted the moments skillfully, and took unique photos.

In 1997, he established an art-training center and trained many nominated students such as Sher Ali and Ali Khan Yazdaney who is currently teaching at the Kabul University. During the Taliban regime, Musafer developed his photography skills with the help of Kate Clarke. Musafer is now the director of 3rd Eye and he is also teaching in Bakhtar and Kabul Universities.

When I joined Aina Photo, I was its oldest member (at 40), and I probably still am, says Najibullah. I was the only person to successfully film a documentary on the Taliban among the Hazara minority located in central Afghanistan. I spent seven months in prison of Taliban for “photograph related crimes.” Had the Taliban discovered my film, I would have certainly been sentenced to death. I am now working as deputy assistant editor and photographer for two weekly Afghan magazines, Kallid and Morsell. Kallid focuses on current affairs, while Morsell is a magazine that explores women’s issues in post-Taliban Afghanistan.

In recent days, Gunmen in southern Afghanistan kidnapped 30 members of the Hazara ethnic community, authorities said Tuesday, in what appeared to be the latest in a series of attacks on Shiites in the predominantly Sunni country.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack Monday afternoon, police and officials said.

The gunmen kidnapped the 30 people, all men, from two vehicles on a major road in Zabul province, provincial Gov. Mohammad Ashraf said. He said all women, children and non-Hazaras were left behind.

Authorities were searching for those kidnapped, some of whom may be government officials, Ashraf said.

Security is an enormous challenge for all Afghans in every sector. However, due to the fact that reporting the news is dangerous even in peaceful countries, this challenge is stronger for the media in Afghanistan.

The situation in Afghanistan is horrible in these days, in that cause Mr. Massoud Hassanzadeh instillation artist and singer fired his instillation artwork to protest against the present situation.

Security threats mainly come from the Taliban and opposition armed group, but not only these groups. Shadowy armed groups with un-verifiable links frequently threaten and attack reporters. In the past 13 years, more than 40 journalists have been killed in Afghanistan (Nai 2014b). Dozens of cases, including some killings, are attributed to such mysterious armed groups. Only one case, the killing of a German journalist, was directly blamed on the government.

The situation in Afghanistan is quiet horrible, in that cause Mr. Massoud Hassanzadeh instillation artist and singer fired his instillation artwork to protest against the present situation.

Although the 3rd Eye Film and Photojournalism Center calling from the officials to free our artist photojournalist from the jail, where the jail isn’t for such positive artist and journalist who struggled for peace and democracy in past 20 years of his life in Afghanistan.

Journalist Sardar Ahmad with Marjan the lion at Kabul zoo, two days before he was murdered. Photograph: Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images

Kabul (AFP) – Shocked colleagues of Sardar Ahmad, the senior reporter in AFP’s Kabul bureau, Friday mourned the loss of a charming and talented journalist equally at ease covering Afghanistan’s wrenching conflict as with colourful tales – including a lion who lived on a roof.

Ahmad, 40, was shot dead along with his wife Humaira and two of their three children — a girl and boy — when gunmen attacked the Serena hotel in the Afghan capital on Thursday evening.

An AFP staff photographer identified the four bodies at a city hospital on Friday, and said the family’s infant son was undergoing emergency treatment after suffering serious wounds.

“This is an immensely painful and enormous loss for Agence France-Presse,” AFP chairman Emmanuel Hoog said.

He described Ahmad as a “dedicated and courageous journalist, a cornerstone of our team in Afghanistan who delivered, every day, exceptional coverage of the news in extremely difficult conditions”.

Four teenage gunmen with pistols hidden in their socks managed to penetrate several layers of security to attack the luxury hotel on the eve of Nawroz, the Persian New Year which is a major holiday in Afghanistan.

The Serena attack was claimed by the Taliban, who have vowed a campaign of violence to disrupt the April 5 election that will decide a successor to President Hamid Karzai.

Hired in 2003 to cover daily briefings by the US-led coalition at Bagram airbase, two years after the invasion that drove out the Taliban regime, Ahmad went on to cover all aspects of life, war and politics in his native country.

He was known among his colleagues for his wit, charm and ebullience. His time covering the briefings at Bagram allowed him to achieve an impressive level of fluency in English — and a distinctive American accent.

– ‘Beloved’ –

Ahmad was a specialist in security issues, with strong contacts on both the government and Taliban sides, allowing him to file balanced stories on the complex conflict wracking Afghanistan.

“Sardar was one of our best journalists in Afghanistan and a beloved member of our team,” Gilles Campion, AFP’s Asia-Pacific regional director, said.

“During the 11 years he spent with AFP in Kabul, he always exercised immense courage and objectivity when reporting, despite the risks faced by journalists in that country.”

Ahmad was a versatile reporter with an eye for unexpected stories that opened a window on life in Afghanistan away from the bombs and blast walls.

His last feature for AFP, filed on Tuesday, was about a lion called Marjan, who was rescued by animal welfare officials from living on a rooftop in Kabul. That was a follow-up to a story Ahmad himself broke last year, generating headlines around the world.

He wrote in the feature: “Marjan is named after a famous half-blind lion who lived at Kabul zoo and became a symbol of Afghanistan’s national survival after living through coups, invasions, civil war and the hardline Taliban era before dying in 2002.”

Ahmad’s second-last story, the day before, covered a threat by the Taliban to attack polling staff, voters and security forces ahead of the April 5 election.

Outside AFP, Ahmad showed his entrepreneurial bent by founding Kabul Pressistan, a successful local news agency that has provided fixing and translation services for numerous foreign reporters coming to Kabul.

Phil Chetwynd, the editor-in-chief of AFP, said his death was an “unspeakable tragedy”.

“Sardar was not only among the very finest journalists in Afghanistan, but also a wonderfully optimistic and engaging personality,” Chetwynd said.

“He has been the pillar of our bureau for the past decade and a great friend to many AFP colleagues. He was also a tremendously proud father and husband.”

News Source : YAHOO