HRW press release on Afghanistan: Overturn Death Sentence of Jailed Journalist
Human Rights Watch publicou antonte unha nota de prensa pedindo a anulación dunha condena a morte en Afganistán. O condenado é Parwiz Kambakhsh, un xornalista de 23 anos, e o seu delicto, calificado como “blasfemia”, foi imprimir e distribuír un documento onde mostra, mediante artigos do Corán, que o Islam recoñece os direitos das mulleres.
A nota de prensa leva por título “Afghanistan: Overturn Death Sentence of Jailed Journalist. Blasphemy Case Illustrates Failings of Legal System”. Copio e pego un extracto do seu contido:
A journalism student sentenced to death for “blasphemy” should immediately be released and his conviction and sentence set aside, Human Rights Watch said today. His arrest demonstrates the continuing power of the country’s notorious security services and radically conservative judges.
On January 22, a court in the northern Afghan province of Balkh sentenced 23-year-old Parwiz Kambakhsh to death for circulating an article about women’s rights in Islam he had downloaded from the internet. A panel of three judges ruled that the article constituted “blasphemy” and sentenced Kambakhsh to death in accordance with Sharia (Islamic) law. He denies that he is guilty of blasphemy and is appealing his conviction.
“Kambakhsh’s case demonstrates how fragile freedom of expression is in many parts of Afghanistan, and the lack of progress that has been made in establishing a professional judiciary,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “It is an embarrassment to the Karzai government, which has failed to take judicial reform seriously and allows a brutal and conservative security service to do whatever it wants.”
The Afghan security services arrested Kambakhsh on October 27, 2007, and held him for eight days before handing him over to the prosecution and judicial services. Since his arrest, Kambakhsh has been held in three different prisons over three months and denied access to a lawyer at all stages of the process. His brother, Yaqub Ibrahimi, told Human Rights Watch that while detained by the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Kambakhsh was beaten and threatened with execution until he signed a confession. In his court appearance on January 22, he faced the judges and a prosecutor alone. He was given his death sentence without a hearing.
The day after, the regional prosecutor, Hafizullah Khaliqyar, threatened to imprison all journalists who support Kambakhsh. [...]
Enlaces relacionados:
- “Journalist sentenced to death for blasphemy” (International Freedom of Expression Exchange)
- Petición de apoio feita pola RAWA (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan)
