Afghanistan
Student sentenced to death for supposedly distributing a 'blasphemous' anti-Islamic articlePosted Apr 2 2008
Islamic clerics in the northern Balkh region of Afghanistan have sentenced a 23 year-old journalism student to death for distributing a 'blasphemous' anti-Islamic article. Parwez Kambakhsh, a journalism student at the Balkh University, and a reporter for the local newspaper Jahan-e-Naw, both located in the town of Mazar-i-Sharif, was sentenced in late January in a closed-door trial.
He is accused of downloading the article, which discussed the Koran and rights of Islamic women, and distributing it among friends, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Charges for possible authorship of the article are also in question. Kambakhsh denies either writing or distributing the article, and plans to appeal the decision. While there have been positive signs from Afghan politicians that Kambakhsh’s death sentence will be lifted, no actual legal action has taken place.