Sayed Pervez Kambaksh Update. "Afghanistan: Student gets 20-year term for downloading rights material," from AdnKronos International, October 21:
Kabul, 21 Oct. (AKI) - A journalism student who downloaded and distributed an article on women's rights from the Internet has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in Afghanistan.
Seyyed Parwiz Kambakhsh, arrested a year ago, was sentenced to death by a court in Balkh. But a Kabul appeals court on Tuesday reduced the sentence to 20 years in prison.
"This is an unjust sentence," defence lawyer, Mohammad Afzal Nourestani, told Adnkronos International (AKI).
"We will appeal to the Supreme Court. During the hearing they did not consider that my client is not the author of the article, that it was downloaded from an Iranian site and he had to ask several friends to read it."
During the appeals process, Parwiz Kambakhsh was tortured and mistreated.
"My client says he was tortured in Balkh prison and during interrogation was forced to admit to being the author of the article that appeared to be the work of an Iranian blogger."
On 28 November Seyyed Parwiz Kambakhsh will receive the Information, Safety & Freedom watchdog's Press Freedom award in Siena.
Last year the award was given to Iranian Kurdish journalists, Adnan Hassanpour and Hiwa Boutimar, both of whom have been sentenced to death by an Iranian court.
How magnanimous of them.
Greetings:
Bomb-making terrorist in Denmark gets 12 years; and this guy gets 20 years.
Hang on chaps, less cynicism if you please. Try to remember these are our allies in the war on terror, what?
Criticism would be bad for morale, what?
Jesus, democracies doomed, not being cruel enough to survive is one thing, not being bright enough to survive quite another.
Still they'll be grateful won't they?
Yes I'm sure they will.
Is this the Taliban? Or is this our government that we installed to supposedly fix this problem? I think we need to try a bit harder to eradicate this insanity in Afghanistan.
"This is an unjust sentence," defence lawyer, Mohammad Afzal Nourestani, told Adnkronos International (AKI).
Talk about your understatements!
most people will admit to anything when being tortured...
In Muslims lands, the tortured prisoner is usually executed shortly after "confessing".
20 years instead of death! Have our soldiers fought and died to install a government that is soft on crime?
Why are our soldiers are dying to protect this government?
The government in Afghanistan, is a fascist Islamic dictatorship.
Please remember the apostate from Islam, who had to be given refugee status in Italy?
Can anyone give me one good reason why we are still in Afghanistan?
The Taliban, no doubt with some help from Afghan army soldiers, has had no problem helping its members escape from Afghan jails. Can't the American army make sure it does the same, but only to free this one prisoner, a 20-year-old journalism student who has just received what is effectively a death sentence, for daring to have "downloaded and distributed an article on women's rights from the Internet," Should this not be made an international cause celebre? I'm waiting for Amnesty International. I'm waiting for Human Rights Watch. Kenneth Roth, Irene Khan, tutti quanti -- where are you?
Voltaire, I couldn't have said it better.
The idea that we a defending a "Democracy" in Afghanistan would be laughable if it were not so grotesque.
How generous of the Taliban Lite government letting this guy off so easily. Once the original and still super primitive heavier version of the Taliban return to power he won't be as lucky.
Sharia is alive and well in this backward country that we have poured the treasure of our American men and women into,not to mention bilions of dollars and yet nothing has changed except maybe some names; what an incredible waste.
No Truth in Islam - No Way!
Best keep the truth about women having any rights a well kept secret, because we wouldn't want women experiencing life more fully and to get any ideas that they are valuable / sarc off.
Whoever this young man is, he is very brave, given the fact that he must have known what was at stake in trying to free the slaves, so to speak.
Now remind me again just why we are spilling American blood over there for these Muslims? Don't tell me we spill it so that they can can set up Islamic kangaroo courts to effectively kill journalists whom want to talk about equality for women. We think we have a different Islam in the west? Check out some of the comments here.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article4922305.ece
"This is a disgrace to Islam, and for Muslim living in the western country' this is really confusing them as for what is wrights/wrongs in islam. In islam women are not allowed to lead the prayers amongst men, it is preferred for them to pray at home where no men can see her. Very shameful."
Suhail, Ilford, Essex
Humm seems the liberal mainstream media just wants to talk about joe's plumbers licence, but nothing about the gorilla in the room.
Hugh
He is safer in jail than out of it. If the US authorities wanted him dead, they could do as you suggest. For the Taliban escapees, they'd be back on the field, and have a good chance of survival.
if this is what freedom and liberation are all about, why bother? Maybe I should just be a good bushbot talk radio clone and give our boys a high five for the great job they have done bringing freedom to the enslaved masses of the world. Even for Islam, Afghanistan is the pits. Let the Russians have another crack at it and we can take Georgia.
Twenty years in an Afghan prison...How sweet.
Better than death. Twenty years of ice cream, cake, and bingo games won't seem so bad. Time will go fast...
It's actually a good trade off if you like bingo.
duh_swami
That sounds more like Chucky Cheeses than prison. I heard that Taliban fighters were buying their way out of prisom for $300 a head . So maybe we can take up a collection and spring him.
I meant spring him first, Prison-Break style, and then, instead of having him, a Central Asian Wentworth Miller, wander all over the land with fellow break-outers. in order to find the "real killer" (as the Greater and Lesser Screens have acclimated us to anticipating) and get his brother cleared, bring this unusual Afghani to America, or to some other non-Muslim land where he may live without fear of retribution. This should not be a general policy -- in general no Muslims, however "moderate," should be allowed to settle in Infidel lands because their "moderation" may be feigned, may be temporary, may not mean what we might innocently assume it to mean --, but an individual exception, for a very special case. , not because we should be giving refuge to every unhappy Afghan, but because he is clearly a special case.
I meant spring him first, Prison-Break style, and then, instead of having him, a Central Asian Wentworth Miller, wander all over the land with fellow break-outers. in order to find the "real killer" (as the Greater and Lesser Screens have acclimated us to anticipating) and get his brother cleared, bring this unusual Afghani to America, or to some other non-Muslim land where he may live without fear of retribution. This should not be a general policy -- in general no Muslims, however "moderate," should be allowed to settle in Infidel lands because their "moderation" may be feigned, may be temporary, may not mean what we might innocently assume it to mean --, but an individual exception, for a very special case.
20 years in prison for trying to understand your own stupid religion..HA!.
Hugh - you forgot to add that if such a person were taken into Infidel protective custody, that this experience would include as an absolute requirement regular exposure, whether face to face or via their writings, to expert cult deprogrammers such as Mr Ali Sina, Mr Abdul Rahman, Ms Wafa Sultan, Ms Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Magdi Cristiano Allam, and other notable apostates from Islam, whether they have embraced atheism or Christianity; and that regular viewing of Fr Zakaria Botros' 'Life TV' program would also be included.
This case alone is enough to withdraw all troops and foreign aid for Afghanistan. This case is not an "incident" to blame on a private party or group, but an example of an inherent feature of the ISLAMIC Republic of Afghanistan. "You are either with us or with the terrorists," said Bush. The government of Afghanistan is STILL a terrorist organization, so Bush is de facto with the terrorists.