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2008-05-18 Afghanistan
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Afghan journalist appeals death sentence for insulting Islam
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An Afghan journalism student sentenced to death for allegedly insulting Islam told an appeals court on Sunday he confessed to writing materials that questioned the religion's treatment of women because he was tortured. He denied all charges against him.
During a packed hour-long hearing, a judge read a transcript of the proceedings against 24-year-old Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh on January 22 at a lower court in northern Balkh province. It was the first time that full details have been revealed of the closed-door trial, which reflected the influence of conservative religious attitudes in post-Taliban Afghanistan's burgeoning justice system. The verdict sparked an international outcry.
Kambakhsh was studying journalism at Balkh University in Mazar-i-Sharif and writing for local newspapers when he was arrested on October 27. The transcript said he disrupted his university classes by asking questions about women's rights under Islam. It also said he distributed an article on the subject and wrote an additional three paragraphs for the piece.
The only people with him in the courtroom during the January hearing in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif were three judges, a court scribe and the prosecutor. Kambakhsh said he had no defence lawyer, and only three minutes to defend himself. He was transferred to Pul-e Charkhi prison on March 27, and his case was moved to Kabul, where rights groups believed he would have a fair trial.
On Sunday, Kambakhsh spoke in the appeals court in Kabul, again without a defence lawyer. "I'm Muslim, and I would never let myself write such an article. All these accusations are nonsense," he said, standing before the judge and addressing the court through a microphone in an emotional 15-minute statement. "These accusations come from two professors and other students because of private hostilities against me. I was tortured by the intelligence service in Balkh province, and they made me confess that I wrote three paragraphs in this article." 
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Posted by ryuge 2008-05-18 09:38||
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