Sayed Parvez Kambakhsh, a student at Balkh University and journalist for Jahan-e Naw (New World) weekly, was detained in October 2007 after he allegedly downloaded and distributed "offensive material" from the Internet on the role of women in Islamic societies.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said in a statement that it condemned “the mounting delays” in the appeal trial of Kambakhsh, 23, whose case has been viewed by rights watchers as a fight for press freedom in the Islamic nation.
A primary court in Balkh province said that Kambakhsh had confessed to “blasphemy” and had to be punished. "According to… the Islamic law, Sayed Perwiz is sentenced to death at the first court," Judge Shamsur Rahman said in published remarks in January, following a trial behind closed doors in which he was denied legal representation.
NETHERLANDS ANGRY
The Netherlands, which has troops in Afghanistan, has protested against the treatment of the journalist. It came after two co-founders of Christian news agency BosNewsLife, Stefan J. Bos and his wife Agnes R. Bos, and other journalists signed a petition of the Dutch Association of Journalists (NVJ) against the planned execution. It was presented to the Afghan Foreign minister earlier this year.
A Kabul appeals court has been delaying the appeal since June 15, citing Kambakhsh’s ill health, which his colleagues claimed is a direct result of his prolonged imprisonment. "There is no excuse for these interminable delays," said IFJ General Secretary Aidan White in a statement obtained by BosNewsLife.
"This is additional cruelty which adds to his ordeal and his poor health. We insist that the courts act in good faith and ensure that this case is dealt with speedily. We are concerned that, as Kambakhsh’s lawyer says, this delay is illegal under Afghan law and we support intervention by the Supreme Court."
PRESIDENT SUPPORT?
On February 6, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, pledged his commitment to repeal the death penalty to representatives of IFJ partners the Afghan Independent Journalists’ Association (AIJA) and the Committee to Protect Afghan Journalists (CPAJ).
The IFJ said it was “calling on President Karzai to make good on his promise and to intervene in the matter and ensure a fair and speedy determination of Kambakhsh’s appeal. "The time has come to bring justice in this case and that begins with a speedy and fair trial that recognises his rights under international law," said White.
This is no isolated case. Members of the tiny Christian community in Afghanistan have also faced persecution for blasphemy in Afghanistan, several rights groups have said. In 2006, Abdul Rahman received asylum in Italy after he was freed from a high-security prison on the outskirts of Kabul when a court dropped charges of apostasy against him for lack of evidence and suspected mental illness.
The Afghan man initially faced the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity and lawmakers in Afghanistan demanded that he be barred from fleeing the conservative Muslim country.
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