Tolo TV - Washington Post

The Washington Post has an article today about media freedom in Afghanistan, including coverage of the current Tolo TV controversy.

Last month, a nasty clash erupted between Tolo and the country's attorney general, an aggressive and flamboyant figure who took issue with a video clip of his comments suggesting that certain accused criminals would be executed soon, even though they had not yet been convicted. He accused the TV channel of misquoting him and sent a large squad of police officers to the Tolo offices, where they detained several staffers. The incident set off a high-profile bureaucratic and legal battle that is still playing out.

"Things are going wrong for the government, and they are trying to kill the messenger," said Saad Mohseni, one of three brothers who own Tolo TV. "It is the only sector that is holding the government accountable, but they see any criticism as a direct threat."

Tolo TV update

See article from the Afghan Recovery Report, produced by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting.

Mohammad Abdullah, legal advisor to Tolo TV, denies the accusation that the station is partisan.

"It is absolutely untrue that we are taking sides," he said. "We are very careful about balance, accuracy, and fairness in our news. And we do not pick on one group—everyone complains about Tolo."

"Tolo is against Islam," said Mohammad Rahim, 35, a Kabul resident. "The prosecutor did a very good thing. Tolo is always insulting famous people. It goes completely against our culture. When I wake up at 4:30 in the morning and turn on the television, I want to hear a reading of the Koran or other religious programs. But Tolo is dancing at that time."

Another Kabul resident, Rahmin Karimyar, agreed. "If Tolo had no mistake with the news, why were they afraid to go to the prosecutor general's office?" he said. "Most of Tolo's programs are against the government, against the regime. It's okay that we have freedom of speech, but that does not mean that you can say anything you want."

Tolo TV

Tolo TV and its associated businesses (including Arman FM and Lemar TV) are the pre-eminent independent media outfit in Afghanistan. Together with a number of related enterprises Tolo TV is run by the Mohseni family - Saad, Zaid, Jahid and Wajma. Wajma's a good friend of mine (she flew all the way from Kabul to Melbourne for my wedding!) and things aint looking that great over there right now.

A recent (17 April 2007) press release by Tolo TV is reprinted in full at the bottom of this entry, but in short Tolo TV appears to be at war with Afghanistan's attorney general. And that's not a good place to be.

SEE Tolo TV entry on Wikipedia

See also recent blog posts at The Huffington Post, American Footprints and again here, Afghaniblog, Safrang and various other places

The present state of play (as I understand it courtesy of The Guardian) is that a government commission has ordered Tolo TV to apologise, it has refused to do so, and it continues to play (and to make available on its website) footage of police attacking the Tolo TV offices.

Tolo TV press release
Tonight at about 7pm Kabul time, more than 50 armed men from the 10th District Police, under direct orders from the Attorney General, Abdul Jabar Sabet, surrounded the offices of TOLO TV in Wazir Akbar Khan in Kabul Afghanistan. The Police physically entered TOLO TV premises and violently attacked staff of TOLO TV, taking three staff members of TOLO TV with them. The TOLO TV staff members, were taken directly to the Attorney General’s Office and detained.

Earlier at about 6.20pm tonight, the Attorney General, Abdul Jabar Sabet, had complained of a news clip on the 6pm TOLO TV news, which he claimed was inaccurate or misrepresented the Attorney General’s comments at an earlier press conference today. After investigating the complaint, TOLO TV management found the complaint to be invalid. The TOLO TV news clip broadcast was accurate and representative of what the Attorney General had said at the press conference.

At the time that the District 10 Police came to TOLO TV offices, they sought the detention of Hamed Haidary, who was the journalist covering the news clip mentioned above, and the “person responsible” for TOLO TV. The Police did not have any legal documentation. When asked to produce such documentation, the Deputy Commander of District 10 Police, wrote on a piece of paper the following:

To the administration of TOLO TV
In accordance with the order of the Attorney General, the responsible person for TOLO TV, and Hamed Haidary, the reporter, are required to appear at the 10th District Police Office.
Signed on behalf of the Commander of the 10th Police District, Mohammad Qasim Aminzoi


The above document was handed to TOLO TV staff, but was not accepted by legal advisors to TOLO TV as it is not valid in Law. Under the Constitution of Afghanistan, Article 38 states as follows:

Residences shall be immune from trespassing.
No one, including the state, shall have the right to enter a residence or search it without the owners permission or by order of an authoritative court, except in situations and methods delineated by law.

In case of an evident crime, the responsible official shall enter or search a residence without prior court order. The aforementioned official, shall, after entrance or completion of search, obtain a court order within the time limit set by law.


No arrest warrants, Court orders, or other legal or written documents were produced by the 10th District Police (other than as noted above). They advised that the Attorney General had verbally ordered them to detain TOLO TV staff. When TOLO TV staff, including TOLO TV legal advisor, Mohammad Abdullah, TOLO TV Administration Manager, Siddiq Ahmadzada and TOLO TV Security Manager, Lal Mohammad, tried to reason with the Police they were physically assaulted and then dragged into Police vehicles. These three TOLO TV staff members were taken to the Attorney General’s office (not the 10th District Police Office), where they were held until public pressure forced the Attorney General to release the TOLO TV staff after about 1 hour. A number of other journalists, including 4 staff members of Associated Press who were covering the incident, were also detained without charge and allegedly assaulted and their footage allegedly confiscated.

It should also be noted that under the Media Laws of Afghanistan, all complaints about the media should, at first instance, be directed towards the Media Investigation Commission which is tasked with investigating such complaints. This Commission is then able to refer the matter to the Attorney General’s office if warranted. This procedure was not followed in this instance.

We hereby state as follows:
- the actions of the District 10 Police and the Attorney General's office, including the Attorney General, Abdul Jabar Sabet, were a complete violation of the Constitution of Afghanistan
- the manner in which TOLO TV were physically abused and detained was completely unacceptable and against the law
- the physical transgression into TOLO TV offices is against the Constitution and the laws of Afghanistan
- the taking of TOLO TV staff to the Attorney General’s office was against the law
- the direct ordering of District Police by the Attorney General’s office is against the law
- these actions of the Attorney General’s office and the District 10 Police are not only against the rights of media enshrined in the Constitution, but also against the principles of democracy and against the national interest of Afghanistan



Further, we demand as follows:
- the immediate suspension from duty of all persons involved in this incident including the Attorney General, the Commander of the 10th District of Police and the Deputy Commander of the 10th District Police
- the creation of a commission who will be tasked with investigating this incident, to be comprised of members acceptable to the media
- the dismissal of all those found to have had any involvement in this incident which is against the laws of Afghanistan
- the prosecution to the full extent of the law of all of those found to have committed any crime

Further, TOLO TV Management would like to thank all of those people who have indicated their support for TOLO TV, including all other media organisations of Afghanistan and international organisations who have covered this event, human rights organisations, members of Parliament, unions representing journalists, the staff of TOLO TV, Lemar TV and Arman FM, all other organisations who have expressed their public support, and most of all the public of Afghanistan who have been unswerving in their support.