– He aimed an AK-47 at my head
Ahmad Walid Rashidi is well aware of the dangers of doing critical journalism in conflict areas. Growing up in Kabul had a strong impact on the 30-year-old, and the war would eventually take away a brother, a father and a leg from him before he was 6 years old.
– I grew up with the smell of kebab and black gunpowder, laughs Rashidi.
Rashidi survived the injury and he and his family eventually fled to Denmark. But at the age of 18 he returned to his homeland.
Since then, he has worked as a freelance journalist for many years, and in the course of twelve years has been kidnapped, threatened and beaten up.
Reporter Without Borders annual report on freedom of the press, confirms that it is more dangerous to be a journalist even earlier. In 2022, 533 journalists will be imprisoned for their work, more than ever before. The number of journalists who had to die has also increased to 57, from 48 last year.
– Had to cover the ears
In 2014 he traveled to Syria to find the twin sisters of a friend from the UK, they had left to marry IS foreign fighters. He found the finalists, but they refused to leave. The twins alerted some IS fighters, who captured Rashidi.
– They accused me of being a Western spy. I was beaten and beaten by the prison guards, they were only 14-15 years old. It was something I thought about a lot, I could have been one of them if my mother hadn’t brought us to Denmark. It gave me a better understanding of my own upbringing in a war zone.
– I have never cried in my adult life, but for the first time I was really scared. One of the things that was very difficult was hearing the screams of the other prisoners who were being interrogated and tortured by IS. Some nights the screams were so loud that I had to cover my ears, says Rashidi.
But with the help of the prison director and an Egyptian judge, he was eventually released from prison. He was then smuggled across the border to Turkey, along with the mother of the two twins he was trying to save.
Betrayed by the West
Norwegian journalist arrested in Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s press has suffered greatly in the last 18 months. Since the Taliban took Kabul on August 15 last year and proclaimed Afghanistan as an Islamic emirate, very many journalists have had to flee the country or give up the journalistic profession. But Rashidi refused to give up.
– When the western authorities left the country and the Taliban took over, I felt they betrayed us. They had thrown us under the bus. They forgot about us after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Some had to give Afghanistan a voice. This was the reason why I started “The Afghans”, an independent newspaper with a focus on Afghan news, he says.
– Fixed an AK-47 with the head
In the summer of 2021, Ahmad Rashidi was contacted by TV2 Denmark to cover the consequences of an American drone attack. The job was therefore not going to go quite as he had thought.
– We had permission from the Taliban to film, so I didn’t think about it. But a soldier came up to us, hit me in the face, loaded the machine gun and aimed it at my head.
– I tried to explain myself, but he just kept hitting me. Then he put a black plastic bag over his head. I had an Afghan colleague with me, he hit them even harder, they broke off his fingers and the back was completely yellow and blue.
They were then taken to the headquarters of the Taliban’s intelligence service. The physical violence continued.
In grief: – Sudden and unexpected
– But luckily I was in contact with my editors in Denmark. I had told them that if they did not hear from me within a certain period of time, then you must sound the alarm.
– So in the end enough pressure was put on the Taliban that I knew they were going to release me, but they were probably going to beat me a little more before that. Something they did.
– Not many manage to escape both IS and the Taliban?
– No, and I know I have a saving angel. The only reason I have a leg is so they have a chance.
Concerned about colleagues
After he was released from prison, Ahmad Rashidi was so depressed that he had to return to Denmark for medical treatment. But his biggest concern was for his colleague who was still in Afghanistan.
– I am protected by my red passport and had editors and a media house who could help me. But my Afghan colleagues, who were exposed to exactly the same as me, have nothing. He had to stay behind while I went back to Denmark.
– Their families are put in danger
He says that the local journalists are treated better than the western ones.
– Journalists from other countries may be arrested or deported, but they are not treated anywhere near as badly as the Afghan journalists. They are beaten almost to death and their family is put in danger. Nobody writes about it when it happens, says Rashidi.
– I don’t have time to be afraid
– I have had several threats directed at me throughout my career. But I don’t have time to be afraid. I’m too busy living my life and doing what I love, journalism, says Ahmad Rashidi.
– I can’t do anything else, this is what I’m good at, what I was born to do. I thrive, survive and develop in difficult situations.
Ahmad Rashidi believes that despite the adversity, you can find bright spots, even in war-torn conflict zones.
– It is always possible to see the light, even in the darkest moments.