Afghan Spy Agency after FB Page Political Satirist

Afghanistan’s National Security Advisor has tasked intelligence agency to identify the owner of a satirical Facebook page named Kabul Taxi.

Recently, Kabul Taxi published a critical satire about Hanif Atmar, the Afghanistan’s National Security Advisor.

In one scenario, Kabul Taxi writes about a group of 27 advisors for the National Security Advisor and calling them as deficient and ‘Atmar’s Chorus’.

According to a letter by National Security Council Office NDS – Afghanistan’s Intelligence Agency has put some media activists under investigations.

“The practice is contrary to the freedom of expression and media; on the other hand, since the Office of the National Security Council is a confidential security organ, this publication has revealed the identity of its staff, It would not only endanger the security staff, but it also assassinate their characters and violates their rights of privacy; therefore, it is called a security threat for the implementation of the office’s tasks,” the letter read.

NDS summons two media activists for investigations and investigate for two hours to find if they are the owner of the publication.

Zaki Daryabi who is the Chief in Edit of Daily Etilaat Roz Newspaper said,” National Directorate of Security interrogated us pretending I’m the owner of Kabul Taxi, but after two hours of interrogations they released me”.

NAI – Agency Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan called Hanif Atmar reactions violation of the law saying Kabul Taxi has not committed anything illegal.

“What Mr. Atmar has done is against the law, the President and the Chief Executive of Afghanistan must ask Mr. Atmar to justify his actions,” Mujib Khelwatgar the Chief Executive of the NAI organization said.

Security officials and spokesmen for the National Security Council Office and Afghanistan’s NDS are not ready to talk about this issue with media outlets.

Reported by: Nasrat Parsa