Afghan Biographies

Daryabi, Zaki


Name Daryabi, Zaki
Ethnic backgr. Hazara
Date of birth 1988
Function/Grade Ex Publisher Etilaat Roz (Daily Information)
History and Biodata

2. Previous Functions:

Publisher and Editor in Chief Etilaat e Roz (2012, 20180814, 20201204)

3. Biodata:
Zaki Daryabi was born 1988 in Afghanistan. Daryabi went to Sharifi High School, Jaghori, Ghazni Province (1994 – 2005). He has a B.A. in Political Science from Kabul University (2006-2010). His father founded Armaghan-e Milli newspaper in 2005.

Zaki Daryabi is also a Hazara activist who helped organize 'Zabul Beheading' protest.(20151123)

 Daryabi, a social media activist who also runs Ettilaat-e Roz said: “The Enlightening Movement may call on the people to refuse to pay their electricity bill. [But then] the government will ask Breshna to cut off their electricity.”(20160605)



Daryabi was never in journalism for the money. Starting out writing for a weekly at university, he made $4 an article. He founded Etilaat Roz with a $12,000 gift from two altruistic friends. Through a deal with a printing press, he got off the ground again, this time focusing on politics. The circulation soon grew to 3,000 copies a day and the paper tapped into social media effectively. Its independence earned it a reputation as an outlet worth leaking to. Etilaat Roz is Kabul’s smallest newspaper.
 

Now Daryabi and his staff revel in the kind of laborious journalism that unfolds, unglamorously, hunched over documents and spreadsheets. By examining dozens of ministries, embassies and consulates, Etilaat Roz recently documented how a small clique of strongmen install family members in powerful positions, debunking government claims of breaking with the country’s toxic dynastic politics.


Etilaat Roz's breakthrough investigation in early 2017 revealed how the president, Ashraf Ghani, had allowed a conglomerate to buy government land at a 90% mark-down in return for financial support in the 2014 election. The article prompted parliament to halt the sale. In a story that created widespread outrage, the paper later published a leaked document from the president’s office of administrative affairs in which an official encouraged promotion of Pashtuns at the expense of other ethnic groups.

Zaki Daryabi, an Afghan who is editor-in-chief of Etilaatroz newspaper, has won Transparency International’s Anti-Corruption 2020 Award. (20201130)
 

Last Modified 2022-03-09
Established 2017-10-03