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Video length: 2 min.
Fixer interpreter many times for teams of France Télévisions, Mortaza Behboudi is detained by the Afghan secret services in Kabul. His wife, as well as elected officials and journalists are mobilizing.
On the walls of the town hall of the 3ᵉ arrondissement of Paris, the photo of Mortaza Behboudi, 29, and a counter which indicates his six months of detention. 180 days, 18 hours and 45 minutes. For his wife, a moment of intense emotion : “This support warms my heart, it gives me strength”. Aleksandra Mostovaja is 25 years old, she is Danish and married Mortaza in Afghanistan. She is fighting for her release. Mortaza worked in Afghanistan, as a fixer interpreter, with several editorial teams at France Télévisions. He was arrested on January 7. Since then, he has been imprisoned by the Afghan secret services in a district of Kabul.
A difficult life
His wife gives the latest news on his detention: “He is relatively well treated compared to the other prisoners. He can do a bit of sport, he reads and can also study.” Mobilized elected officials, journalists too, all know his incredible destiny. “He was a bricklayer at nine, made carpets at 12. He began his career with a camera at 16. He experienced his second exile at 21 to arrive in France”, explains Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of Reporters Without Borders. The heart of Mortaza is Douarnenez (Finistère). The Bretons are very mobilized. Thursday, July 6, they were 250 to attend the symbolic departure of Telenn-Mor. If they really could, they would go get him by boat in Afghanistan, more than 15,000 km away.