By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KABUL, Afghanistan – The Supreme Court of Afghanistan upheld the 20 year sentence for blasphemy of student and part-time journalist Parwez Kambakhsh.

The decision was made in secret on February 12.  Kambakhsh’s family and counsel learned of the outcome Wednesday when the attorney general’s office issued orders to the northern province of Balkh to enforce the decision.

In 2007, Kambakhsh was arrested for having written and circulating an article about women and Islam.  Kambakhsh said that he did not write it, but rather, downloaded it from the Internet.  In 2008, the appeals court converted a sentence of death to 20 years imprisonment.  Last month, this decision was upheld by the Supreme Court.

“Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has confirmed the 20-year prison sentence for my brother,” said Yaqoub Ibrahimi, who is Kambakhsh’s brother. “We did not expect it at all.”

Kambakhsh’s lawyer Azfal Nooristani said that the entire proceeding was completely unfair.  “This case has been a conspiracy, it is about politics,” Nooristani told Human Rights Watch. “I had a legal right to see the Supreme Court judges, but they would not see me; they did not let me submit my defense statement. They had already made up their minds.”

Kambakhsh’s family is also shocked and disappointed in the criminal justice system of Afghanistan.

“This is the tragic level of justice in Afghanistan today,” Ibrahimi, the brother, said in a statement. “It is just a make-believe system of justice and humanitarianism. The reality is that the Afghan government and judiciary, although supported by the U.S., the UN, the EU and other democracies worldwide, is morally bankrupt.”

Human Rights Watch, among other human rights organizations, urges President Karzai to issue a pardon.

“The Supreme Court represented the last hope that Parwez Kambakhsh would receive a fair hearing, but once again justice was denied,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Kambakhsh has committed no crime. Now it is up to President Karzai to act on principle and free him.”

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – Afghanistan: 20-Year Sentence for Journalist Upheld – 10 March 2009

International Herald Tribune – Student’s Long Blasphemy Term Upheld in Afghanistan – 12 March 2009

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty – Afghan Court Upholds Journalism Student’s 20-Year Blasphemy Sentence – 12 March 2009