For saying Women are equal to Men, Afghanistan sends a Journalist to Jail for 20 years. -------------------------------- Yaqub Looks To Italy To Help Brother Appeal by brother of Afghan journalist convicted of saying that men and women are equal MILAN - Yaqub Perwiz Kambakhsh, 28, is in Italy to draw attention to the plight of his brother, an Afghan journalist sentenced to 20 years in prison for asserting that women have the same rights as men. "Italy has a moral duty to Afghanistan. Since the 2001 war, Italy has been committed to financing the reconstruction of the Afghan judicial system, at a cost of tens of millions of dollars. Why does it do nothing to halt this injustice inflicted on Sayed?" he demands. It's not a pretty story. Although it is well-known, Sayed's predicament seems to have slipped off the world's radar. Afghanistan looks to be on the brink of collapse. Barack Obama is sending reinforcements and asking the allies and NATO for help as the Taliban threat extends into Pakistan. Sayed's story could become one of the many personal tragedies destined to disappear without trace. It all began in 2007, when the 23-year-old Sayed, a journalist working for Mazar El Sharif-based media in the north of the country, claimed provocatively on his blog that "extremist mullahs" were misinterpreting the Koran. He wondered why, if Islam allows a man to take four wives, a woman can't have four husbands. Sayed is an obscure provincial reporter but his words caused deep shock in an Afghanistan in the throes of religious restoration and a wholesale return to tradition. Sayed was arrested, charged with blasphemy and on 27 October 2007 he was sentenced to death. At that point, international humanitarian associations stepped in and media around the world picked up the story. The Afghan president Hamid Karzai was even asked to intervene. But the president proved reluctant. "He can't speak out personally on behalf of the journalist. Karzai is struggling and losing consensus. He's afraid he won't win the presidential elections scheduled for late August 2009. He needs the Pashtun vote and the support of religious circles. He might say something in defence of Sayed, but only after the election", explain well-informed observers. The compromise was to commute the death penalty to imprisonment, which was done on 1 October 2008, when Sayed's sentence was converted to 20 years in jail. "But now everything is on hold and Sayed is suffering. We his family, colleagues, friends and lawyers fear that he could die in jail, perhaps poisoned. It wouldn't be the first time", notes Yaqub. Sayed's brother is in Milan as a guest of CISDA, an Italian NGO active in Afghan civilian society. He asked to speak to representatives of the government and a few days ago met the junior foreign minister, Alfredo Mantica. Over the next few days, he will be visiting other cities in Europe. Nevertheless, Yaqub sounds very disappointed with his visit to Italy. "I have the impression that the Italian authorities are keeping their distance. They are afraid and do not want to intervene in Afghanistan' s internal affairs. But that paves the way for the triumph of injustice. The most reactionary elements among the Afghan imams will win. Instead, they should mobilise to free Sayed at once and send out a signal that our new judicial system guarantees the individual and freedom", urges Yaqub. But Alfredo Mantica points out: "Obviously, we are keeping an eye on Sayed's case. It's important to us and we are worried, but we cannot ignore the context in which it is taking place. The fact is that the courts are strongly influenced by the religious authorities. Secular Afghanistan had already vanished long before the Taliban arrived in the 1990s. We have to be very careful that this does not become an issue in the election campaign. If it turns into a political football, we are never going to find a way out. Better to wait until after the vote". One of the many possibilities discussed recently is a further postponement of the election. What then? "It's a possibility. Waiting, playing for time, only serves to increase the likelihood that my brother will be murdered. His name would then disappear forever. He would become a tiny footnote to history", claims Yaqub. In Yaqub's view, until a little while ago, there was a way out: bribe the judges and slip the authorities a sweetener to "buy Sayed's freedom". "There would have been nothing odd in that. Even the Italians are well aware that corruption is rife in Afghanistan. With money, the rich go free and the poor end up in jail", he notes dejectedly. But now even that option has gone. "Sayed's case is too important now. It's too well known. No one would dare take a bribe to sort it out. They'd be reported. At least in these months. Sayed has become emblematic of the Afghan national drama". Lorenzo Cremonesi 26 febbraio 2009(ultima modifica: 27 febbraio 2009) English translation by Giles Watson www.watson.it Article in Italian |
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