National Press Club Questions Afghanistan's Treatment of U.S. Reporter

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Aug 20, 2014, 04:02 ET

WASHINGTON, Aug. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Press Club president raised questions Wednesday about the government of Afghanistan's expulsion of a New York Times journalist whose reporting had displeased Afghan authorities.

Afghan officials on Wednesday ordered the reporter, Matthew Rosenberg, to leave the country and never return.

It was the first expulsion of a Western reporter in Afghanistan since the 2001 toppling of the Taliban regime, the Times reported.

Rosenberg's ouster came one day after he had been questioned by officials in the Afghanistan attorney general's office about a story he had written in Tuesday's Times that had recounted a potential coup in Kabul.

Rosenberg said the Afghan officials had criticized the story and had demanded that he reveal his sources for it.

"Americans did not expend enormous blood and treasure to help Afghanistan's government create a democracy, only to see it treat journalists this way," said National Press Club President Myron Belkind. "Reporters should be free to produce news without fear of such intimidation."

The National Press Club was founded in 1908 and is based in Washington, D.C. It is the world's leading professional organization for journalists. Through its Press Freedom Committee, the National Press Club defends press freedom and transparency worldwide.

Contact: John M. Donnelly, Chairman, NPC Press Freedom Committee: [email protected]; 2027466020.

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SOURCE National Press Club