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| Afghanistan |
| Afghan journalist sentenced to death for 'blasphemy' |
| 2008-01-24 |
| Media rights groups called on Afghanistan’s president to intervene Wednesday after a court sentenced to death a young journalist who distributed articles said to insult Islam. The primary court in the northern province of Balkh delivered the sentence on Perwiz Kambakhsh, 23, Tuesday after he was arrested nearly three months ago for distributing at his university material downloaded from the Internet. “Based on the crimes Perwiz Kambakhsh committed, the primary court yesterday sentenced him to the most serious punishment which is the death penalty,” Balkh province deputy attorney general Hafizullah Khaliqyar told AFP. Kambakhsh, a reporter for a city newspaper called Jahan-e Naw (“The New World”) and a journalism student at Balkh University, indicated he did not accept the verdict and would appeal, his family said. Afghan and international media groups called on President Hamid Karzai to step in. “This is unfair, this is illegal,” said Rahimullah Samander, president of the Afghan Independent Journalists’ Association (AIJA). The reporter had had no legal representation and the media were unaware of the trial, he told AFP. The matter should also have been referred to a national media violations commission for adjudication, he said. AIJA had appealed to Karzai, parliament and the national attorney general to intervene and was also rallying support from international rights groups, he said. “This is too big for a small mistake - he just printed a copy and looked at this and read it. How can we believe in this ‘democracy’ if we can’t even read, we can’t even study?” |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 “This is unfair, this is illegal,” No, thats-a sharia. How can we believe in this ‘democracy’ if we can’t even read, we can’t even study?” Democracy, maybe. Freedom of Speech and Critical Thinking, not until you all change one particular thing. Hey, download this.. ,!, sharia with a porcupine with its child sacrificing, idol worshiping, genetil infatuated, insecure thought constraining dark age wanna-be loser mahamed-this mahamed-cat bullcrap. I want it to be solidified as a weebal wobble so I can punch it all day long then pop it with a lawn dart. Spit. Oh, coffee is done... |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2008-01-24 11:35 |
| #2 We should quietly put our foot down and direct that Afghanistan can only have a death penalty for homicide, and that it can only be given by a national court, with appeal up the government. On top of that, make it a crime to even issue a death penalty without authorization. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-01-24 08:28 |
| #1 Strangely absent is the content of the offending materials. Want to bet it was the truth? |
| Posted by: gromky 2008-01-24 04:26 |