Posted by
JTB on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 2:37:45 PM
Afghan 'blasphemy' death sentence
An Afghan journalist has been sentenced to death by a provincial court for distributing "blasphemous" material.
Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, 23, was arrested in 2007 after
downloading material from the internet relating to the role of women in
Islamic societies.
A primary court in Balkh province said that Kambakhsh had confessed to blasphemy and had to be punished.
The court also threatened to arrest any reporters who protested against Kambakhsh's sentence.
Kambakhsh, a student at Balkh University and a
journalist for Jahan-e Naw (New World), was arrested in October 2007
after material he downloaded was deemed to be offensive to Islam.
Shamsur Rahman, the head of the court, told Reuters news
agency: "According to... the Islamic law, Sayed Perwiz is sentenced to
death at the first court.
"However, he will go through three more courts to declare his last punishment," he said.
'Deeply shocked'
Balkh province's deputy attorney general, Hafizullah
Khaliqyar, warned other journalists that they would be arrested if they
attempted to support Kambakhsh.
But Agence France-Presse reported that journalists were gathering outside the home of the condemned reporter.
The sentence has been welcomed by conservative Islamic
clerics in Afghanistan but criticised by international human rights
groups.
Global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said it
was "deeply shocked" by the trial and appealed to President Hamid
Karzai to intervene "before it is too late".
In a statement, the group said the trial was "carried
out in haste and without any concern for the law or for free
expression, which is protected by the constitution".
"Kambakhsh did not do anything to justify his being detained or being given this sentence."
Kambakhsh's brother, Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, said the
verdict was "very unfair" and appealed for help from the international
community, reported Reuters.