President Hamid Karzai's office has said sorry for a mess in organizing media coverage of the Independence Day's official celebrations as journalists had boycotted covering the event.
A statement from the President's office said some officials dealt carelessly with journalists who waited long for being taken to the fortified Independence Day celebration venue.
Scheduled to be taken to the celebrations venue, dozens of journalists waited from 6 to 9 O'clock in the morning on Thursday 28 Asad, the day in which Afghanistan declared independence from Great Britain 92 years ago.
The journalists waited behind the gate of the Ministry of Defence and collectively decided to boycott covering the ceremony after three hours wait without the officials supposed to organize and communicate with the media paying no heed.
“The President's Office expresses sorrow over disruption of the Independence Day ceremony's coverage by journalists who were invited to cover the celebration from the venue,” said the statement.
The office of the spokesman of the President and the Government Media and Information Center understands importance of media and respects freedom of expression and is committed to facilitate its access to sources of information, the statement read.
The Center of Journalists of Afghanistan condemns the humiliating behavior of top government officials with the media, especially on a such particular day.
It asks the government of Afghanistan to remain committed to the media law and other commitments it had made in easing access of media to sources of information.