Sayed Pervez Kambakhsh's Sentence Commuted to 20 Years

Joshua Foust — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 01:17:27 +0000

An Afghan appeals court overturned a death sentence Tuesday for a journalism student accused of blasphemy for asking questions in class about women's rights under Islam. But the judges still sentenced him to 20 years in prison.

The case against 24-year-old Parwez Kambakhsh, whose brother has angered Afghan warlords with his own writing, has come to symbolize Afghanistan's slide toward an ultraconservative view on religious and individual freedoms.

At least one witness claimed he was intimidated into falsely testifying against Kambakhsh at his first trial in January. Right now, Kambakhsh, 24, is slated to spend 20 years in the infamous Pul-i Charkhi prison for the crime of “questioning Islam.”

The Pul-i Charkhi prison, just east of Kabul. Google Map here

Kambakhsh's case was covered previously by both Global Voices and Global Voices Advocacy.

No Movement on Death Sentence for Afghan Internet User

Joshua Foust — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:58:37 +0000

Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh is a journalism student at Balk University in Mazar-i Sharif. He supposedly copied text from an Iranian website criticizing Islam's stance on the treatment of women, and added his own thoughts on the matter—much like a blogger would. For this, the Afghan intelligence services investigated him, and after his arrest a court in Balkh province convicted him of heresy and sentenced him to death.

At his most recent appeals hearing, according to Jean MacKenzie at IWPR, Kambakhsh was berated by his own judge: (more…)

Global Voices Advocacy » Joshua Foust

Sayed Pervez Kambakhsh's Sentence Commuted to 20 Years

No Movement on Death Sentence for Afghan Internet User