Afghanistan Taliban authorities have “beaten and detained” a journalism educator for speaking out against the ban on women’s education on live television.
Veteran journalism lecturer Ismail Mashal tore his degree certificates to shreds on TV in December, protesting the ban on women’s higher education.
In recent days, domestic channels showed Mashal carting books around Kabul and offering them to passers-by.
“Mashal was mercilessly beaten and taken away in a very disrespectful manner by members of the Islamic Emirate,” Mashal’s aide Farid Ahmad Fazli told AFP, referring to the Taliban government.
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A Taliban official confirmed the detention.
“Teacher Mashal had indulged in provocative actions against the system for some time,” tweeted Abdul Haq Hammad, director at the Ministry of Information and Culture.
“The security agencies took him for investigation.
“Mashal — a lecturer for more than a decade at three Kabul universities — was detained on Thursday despite having “committed no crime”, Fazli said.
“He was giving free books to sisters (women) and men,” he added.
“He is still in detention and we don’t know where he is being held.”
