A Taliban court in the capital city Kabul on January 1, 2025 sentenced Afghan News Agency reporter Mahdi Ansary to 18 months in prison on charges of disseminating anti-Taliban propaganda.
Ansary disappeared while returning home from his office in the Dashte Barchi area of Kabul on October 5, 2024.
Ansary, who is from Afghanistan’s Hazara ethnic minority group, reported on killings and atrocities against the community during the Taliban’s rule on his Facebook page, which has 4,700 followers. Hazara people have faced persecution and escalating violence since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021.
Since their return to power, the Taliban have embarked on an unprecedented crackdown on the media, with numerous journalists detained, outlets shuttered and banned, and hundreds members of the press forced into exile.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told CPJ via messaging app in October 2024 that the journalist was working with “banned [media] networks” and had engaged in “illegal activities,” without providing further details.