Taliban arrest Afghan fashion model, say he ‘insulted’ Islam

ISLAMABAD — The Taliban have arrested a effectively-acknowledged Afghan vogue product and three of his colleagues, accusing them of disrespecting Islam and the Quran, the Muslim holy guide, in accordance to video clips unveiled by Afghanistan’s new rulers.

Ajmal Haqiqi — identified for his fashion demonstrates, YouTube clips and modeling events — appeared handcuffed in movies posted on Twitter by the Taliban intelligence company on Tuesday.

In a person commonly circulated and contentious movie, Haqiqi is viewed laughing as his colleague Ghulam Sakhi — who is regarded to have a speech impediment that he makes use of for humor — recites verses of the Quran in Arabic, in a comical voice.

Immediately after the arrests, the Taliban introduced a video clip of Haqiqi and his colleagues, noticed standing in gentle brown jail uniforms and apologizing to the Taliban governing administration and spiritual scholars.

The online video was accompanied by a tweet in the Dari language, indicating: “No a single is permitted to insult Quranic verses or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.”

Later on Wednesday, Amnesty International produced a statement, urging the Taliban to “immediately and unconditionally” launch Haqiqi and his colleagues.

Amnesty has documented various arbitrary detentions by the Taliban in Afghanistan, frequently accompanied by coerced statements in an endeavor to stifle dissent in the region and discourage other folks from expressing their sights.

Samira Hamidi, Amnesty’s South Asia campaigner, denounced the arrests and mentioned that by detaining “Haqiqi and his colleagues and coercing them into apologizing,” the Taliban have carried out “a blatant attack on the right to independence of expression.” Her statement also condemned the Taliban’s “ongoing censorship of individuals who would like to freely convey their thoughts.”

In Kabul, Taliban officers did not instantly reply to requests for remark and it was not apparent what measures the product and his colleagues facial area less than the Taliban-run judiciary.

The families of the arrested designs could also not instantly be attained for remark.

Given that they seized power final August in Afghanistan during the remaining months of the U.S. troop pullout from the country, the Taliban have imposed strict measures and edicts in accordance to their severe interpretation of Islamic regulation, especially curbing the rights of gals and minorities.

The moves have elevated global worries that the radical Islamic team intends to rule as it did the last time the Taliban held electricity in Afghanistan, in the late 1990s. The Taliban take into account criticism and just about anything perceived as disrespectful of Islam as a punishable criminal offense.

Amnesty stated that given that their takeover, the Taliban “have been making use of intimidation, harassment, and violence on any person who has expressed guidance for human legal rights or modern values, particularly human legal rights defenders, girls activists, journalists, and associates of academia amongst some others.”

The rights group also urged the Taliban as the de facto authority in Afghanistan to “abide by worldwide human rights regulation and regard everyone’s correct to independence of expression without discrimination.”