A well-known Afghan fashion male model, Ajmal Haqiqi, and three of his colleagues have been arrested by the Taliban and are accused of 'insulting' Quran, the news agency AP reported. The Taliban arrested the model along with his friends after a video was widely circulated, purportedly showing Haqiqi laughing as his colleague Ghulam Sakhi, with a speech impediment, recites verses of the Quran in Arabic in a comical voice.
Soon after their arrest, the Taliban posted a video on Twitter on Tuesday in which Haqiqi, popular for his fashion shows, appeared handcuffed. In the video released, Haqiqi and his colleagues can be seen wearing light brown jail uniforms and apologising to the Taliban government and religious scholars.
As per AP, the video tweeted by the Taliban was in Dari language which translates to: “No one is allowed to insult Quranic verses or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.”
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Amnesty International released a statement demanding the unconditional and immediate release of Haqiqi and his colleagues.
In the past, too, Amnesty had documented several arbitrary detentions by the Taliban in Afghanistan often followed by coerced statements aimed at suppressing dissent.
Samira Hamidi, Amnesty's South Asia campaigner, denounced the arrests and said: "By detaining Haqiqi and his colleagues and coercing them into apologizing, the Taliban have undertaken a blatant attack on the right to freedom of expression."
Her statement also condemned the Taliban's "continued censorship of those who wish to freely express their ideas.”
Since the Taliban seized power last August in Afghanistan they have imposed strict measures and edicts as per their interpretation of Islamic law.