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

Presiding judge Abdul Salam Qazizada has weathered several Afghan administrations. He is a holdover from the Taleban regime, and his antagonism to the defendant was visible…

During the session, Qazizada appeared to take on the role of prosecutor rather than impartial judge, engaging in a legal duel with defence attorney Mohammad Afzal Nooristani. Lacking a gavel, he repeatedly banged his pen against his microphone in an effort to halt Nooristani’s defence of his client.

Time and again the judge attacked Kambakhsh, who sat pale but composed in the defendant’s chair.

“Just tell me why you did these things,” insisted Qazizada. “What were your motives?”

“I cannot give you reasons, since I did not do anything,” responded Kambakhsh.

Kambakhsh is alleged to have been beaten since his initial imprisonment last December, however given the length of time it took for an examination to be scheduled, most of the physical markings have healed over. Though he plead guilty, he claims to have done so under duress.

Kambakhsh also stands accused of moral character flaws such as asking too many questions in class, seeking attention and popularity, being impolite, and swapping dirty jokes over his cellphone.

Kambakhsh faces many obstacles: his defense lawyers hadn’t examined his case file even a week before his first appeals hearing, and the Upper House of Parliament has voiced its support for his execution, along with conservative clerics and some tribal elders.

In 2006, Abdul Rahman was sentenced to death for converting to Christianity. His life was spared when, under intense international pressure, he was declared legally insane and deported to Italy. Similar international pressure is not as readily apparent in Kambakhsh’s case: a story on his case in the international media has not appeared for months, despite worrying indications this is a revenge case for his brother’s work with IWPR.

See heartbreaking images of Afghan policemen escorting Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh after a court hearing in Kabul on May 18, 2008 at the dailylife website.

He has been a reporter for Jahan-e Naw (New World) weekly and a student of journalism at Balkh University.

According to Afghan Penlog and international media, Parwez Kambakhsh was detained by the authorities on October 27, 2007 for downloading and distributing an article that he found on an Iranian weblog to friends. It spoke of women’s rights, the Quran and the Prophet Mohammed. A local court in northern Afghanistan in Mazar-e Sharif has convicted him to death for the alleged blasphemy.

Global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders say the trial was “carried out in haste and without any concern for the law or for free expression, which is protected by the constitution.”

Index on Censorship says :

Deeply conservative Afghan clerics, most of whom have never used a computer or the Internet, believe Kambakhsh himself wrote the article and therefore found him guilty of blasphemy. Because there is no clear punishment for downloading “un-Islamic” articles from the Internet, the primary court of appeal asked clerics to comment. The conservative clerics, who had not investigated the case, demanded the death penalty.

Journalist’s brother may have been target

According to CNN, many believe that Kambakhsh was actually arrested for articles his brother wrote that criticized provincial authorities. The brother, Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, has written numerous stories that detail human rights.

Afghan PenLog issued a statement yesterday that accused Afghan authorities of attempting to escape from the issue: “… the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture has released a letter this afternoon that says Parwiz Kambakh was not a journalist and his case has nothing to do with the media.” Afghan Penlog is deeply concerned, and demands the immediate release of Parwiz Kambakhsh.