Afghan court sentences ARY journalist to four years in prison

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 14 July 2014

Faizullah Khan, a journalist from ARY News, has been sentenced to four years in prison by an Afghan court. The charges stemmed from his illegal entry into Afghanistan.

Summary

ISLAMABAD: An Afghanistan court has sentenced a Pakistani television journalist to four years in prison for travelling without valid documents, The Express Tribune reported Monday.

Faizullah Khan of ARY News was detained by Afghan authorities in April. Earlier reports had suggested that he wanted to interview Taliban leaders as part of his assignment.

“A panel of three judges in eastern Nangarhar province has convicted Faizullah Khan, the paper quoted a Pakistani embassy official in Afghanistan as saying.

Faizullah was also accused of spying; however, the bench dropped the charges, instead jailing him for entering illegally into Afghanistan.

The Pakistan embassy is making efforts to secure Faizullah's release,

KEY POINTS:

• Faizullah Khan was detained by Afghan authorities in April.
• He was convicted for traveling without valid documents.
• The court dropped spying charges against him.
• The Pakistani embassy is working to secure his release.
• The ruling was issued by a panel of judges in Nangarhar province.