Following this morning's BBC news posting and an article on Apostasy and Islam, here is one from Guardian.
An Afghan reporter was sentenced to death for blasphemy by a court yesterday for allegedly questioning the prophet Muhammad's respect for women's rights.
The case has raised concerns over declining press freedom in Afghanistan and the growing power of militia commanders and ultra-conservative clerics.
Sayed Parwez Kaambakhsh, a 23-year-old reporter for the Jahan-e-Now daily, was tried behind closed doors and without a lawyer in the northern town of Mazar-i-Sharif after allegations by university classmates that he had mocked Islam and circulated an article that argued the prophet Muhammad had ignored the rights of women. Kaambakhsh denied writing the article, saying his name was added after it was printed, but he was found guilty.
Imposing the death sentence, the judge said Kaambakhsh would have the opportunity to appeal to three higher courts.
The Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), which trains Afghan journalists and promotes independent reporting around the world, said the case against Kaambakhsh was a fabrication, motivated by a desire by warlords in northern Afghanistan to silence his brother, Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, also a journalist, who had written investigative reports exposing their abuse of human rights.
One story last October reported on the sexual abuse of "dancing boys" - teenage boys who dress as girls and are made to entertain the warlords and their guests at parties. Hafizullah Khaliqyar, a local prosecutor, was quoted as saying that the "catastrophic" practice was on the rise.
He said: "If the UN and the government don't take this issue as seriously as they do child-trafficking and drug smuggling, and punish the offenders, it's going to be almost impossible to prevent it."
Ibrahimi also exposed the terrorising of villages by warlords who have become increasingly assertive in the north. Kaambakhsh was arrested soon after the articles were published, according to Jean MacKenzie, IWPR director in Afghanistan. "This is an excuse to go after Yaqub," she said. "He no longer sleeps at home. He's being followed and he's being targeted."
MacKenzie said the harassment of Ibrahimi was being carried out by the national directorate for security. "In the north, it is clear evidence of the growing power of former commanders or warlords, who are working through religious fundamentalist mullahs, who are also growing in power."
Two journalists sentenced to death for blasphemy in recent years escaped from jail and were granted asylum in the west.
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