AFGHANISTAN: More international pressure needed for detained journalist

24 June 2008

Update #2 to RAN 02/08

The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN remains deeply concerned by the continuing delay in the hearing of journalist Sayed Parvez Kambakhsh's appeal against a death sentence for the alleged crime of "blasphemy". International PEN calls upon its members to seek meetings with their Foreign Ministries, to raise publicity in their local press, and if possible to send observers to the trial. International PEN calls on President Hamid Karzai to personally intervene in this case as a matter of urgency, and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of journalist Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh in accordance with Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The appeal hearing at the Kabul Appeal Court has been adjourned four times since it opened on 18 May 2008. No date has been set for the next hearing.

The WiPC recommends this article by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting giving a first hand account of the hearing - http://www.iwpr.net/?p=arr&s=f&o=345224&apc_state=henparr

Background
According to PEN's information, twenty-three year-old Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh, journalism student at Balkh university and reporter for the local daily Jahan-e-Naw (The New World), was arrested on 27 October 2007 in Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh province, northern Afghanistan for distributing allegedly anti-Islamic literature. He was detained by National Directorate of Security (NDS) forces on blasphemy charges after allegedly downloading and distributing to friends an article that said the Prophet Mohammed ignored women's rights. He was not the author of the article. He was also reportedly accused of possessing allegedly anti-Islamic books and starting un-Islamic debates in his classes.

Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh was tried by an Islamic court in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh Province, on 22 January 2008, and sentenced to death. The trial was reportedly held behind closed doors, and he had no legal representation. Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh is feared to be targeted for association with his brother, prominent journalist Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, who works for the Institute of War and Peace Reporting and has been under escalating pressure for his critical reporting on local officials and warlords. According to his brother, Kambakhsh's health is seriously deteriorating in prison as a result of poor prison conditions and severe psychological stress. Kambakhsh claims to have signed a confession under torture.