On Sunday January 9, a spokesperson for the Taliban government announced the arrest of Faizullah Jalal, a renowned university professor in Afghanistan and critic of the Taliban.
In detention since Saturday, January 8, Faizullah Jalal is accused by the Taliban of playing “with the dignity of the people” and of “wanting to turn people against the system”, as indicated by Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the regime.
On Twitter, the latter also added that Faizullah Jalal “was arrested to prevent others from making similar senseless comments”, relying on screenshots of the teacher’s publications on the social network.
# توضیحات:
یک انسان متعصب بنام # جلال بخاطر توضیحات چرندیان خود در رسانه های اجتماعی # گرفتار شده است ، که مردم را علیه نظام تحریک می نمود و با ابروی مردم بازی میکرد.
تا باشد که کسی دیگر از ادرس استاد و دانشمند !!؟ دست به چنین یاوه گویی ، شخصیت کشی و هتک حرمت انسان‌ها نزند. pic.twitter.com/t5xdhRNLzY
– Zabihullah (..ذبـــــیح الله م) (@ Zabehulah_M33) January 8, 2022
The academic was particularly noted on social networks, through numerous messages against the fundamentalist regime, which he accuses of considering the Afghan people as “donkeys”.
A call for release made by several NGOs
After this arbitrary arrest, several NGOs alerted themselves to Faizullah Jalal’s situation, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
The latter demands the release of the Afghan teacher, considering that he was arrested “for having exercised his freedom of expression and criticizing the Taliban”.
The situation regarding freedom of expression and plurality of opinion has worsened since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, despite promises of a less authoritarian regime than in the past.
