Afghan Journalist

A 23-year old has been sentenced to death for downloading information about women’s rights in Afghanistan.

Journalist Pervez Kambaksh was reading about the role of women in Islamic socieites.

But he was accused of blasphemy after he downloaded a report from a Farsi website which stated that Muslim fundamentalists who claimed the Koran justified the oppression of women had misrepresented the views of the prophet Mohamed.

Yesterday the upper house of the Afghan parliament supported the sentence against the journalist, despite an international outcry over the harsh punishment for blasphemy.

The UN has criticised the sentence and said the journalist did not have legal representation during the case.

The Afghan government has said that the sentence was not final.

A government spokesman said recently that the case would be handled “very carefully”.

Now the Afghan Senate has issued a statement on the case - it was not voted on but was signed by its leader, Sibghatullah Mojaddedi, an ally of President Hamid Karzai.

It said the upper house approved the death sentence conferred on Mr Kambaksh by a city court in Mazar-e-Sharif.

It also strongly criticised what it called those institutions and foreign sources which, it said, had tried to pressure the country’s government and judiciary as they pursued people like Mr Kambaksh.

Some governments and international organisations have called for the sentence to be overturned.

A legal expert, Wadeer Safi, said that parliament was not constitutionally allowed to intervene in a case in the way the Senate had done, and he was concerned the new statement might prejudice the independence of the judges.

Mr Kambaksh’s brother, Yacoub Kambaksh, said that the journalist was very concerned about his future and said he had not had a fair trial or any lawyer to defend him.

But the provincial governor in Mazar has said the case is being handled with due process.

Mr Kambaksh has at least two more courts in which to appeal and the sentence would have to be approved by President Karzai to be carried out.

He is a student at Balkh University and a journalist for Jahan-e Naw (New World).

He was arrested in 2007 after downloading material relating to the role of women in Islamic societies. [source]

You’re probably thinking that there is something really wrong with those people for giving someone the death penalty for reading about women’s rights on the internet! That has to be an exaggeration - right? Well, here’s the good news - it IS an exaggeration. he did much worse than reading those articles. He PRINTED THEM OUT!!!!

Mr Kambaksh, 23, distributed the tract to fellow students and teachers at Balkh University with the aim, he said, of provoking a debate on the matter. But a complaint was made against him and he was arrested, tried by religious judges without – say his friends and family – being allowed legal representation and sentenced to death.

The jihadists are working hard to take back any and all progress made by the Afghan government especially when it comes to women’s rights. Any progress is and will be made by prying their hands a fingertip at a time from the throats of the Afghan people.

Sayed Pervez Kambaksh’s imminent execution is an affront to civilised values. It is not, however, a foregone conclusion. If enough international pressure is brought to bear on President Karzai’s government, his sentence may yet be overturned. Add your weight to the campaign by urging the Foreign Office to demand that his life be spared. Sign our e-petition at www.independent.co.uk/petition

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