Death sentence imposed on a journalist in Afghanistan

30.1.2008

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0542/08
by Elena Valenciano Martínez-Orozco (PSE)
to the Council

Last week, the international press and several organisations, such as the International Federation of Journalists and Reporters Without Borders (RSF), condemned the sentencing to death of Pervez Kambakhsh, a 23-year-old journalist, for ‘blasphemy’.

Mr Kambakhsh was arrested on 27 October 2007 for distributing an article to fellow university students that, according to an official document, was ‘insulting to Islam and incorrectly interpreted verses of the Koran’.

On Tuesday, 23 January 2008, his family received written notification of the sentence passed by the court in the province of Balkh following a trial that proceeded without legal guarantees, in secret and in the absence of a defence lawyer.

Moreover, at a press conference in Mazar-e-Sharif, the deputy provincial prosecutor handling the case, Hafizullah Khaliqyar, threatened to imprison any journalists supporting Mr Kambakhsh, arguing that he had confessed to his crime and should therefore be punished.

How does the Council view these events? Does it agree that this sentence is an attack on press freedom? Will it consider responding to this violation of human rights before it is too late? Does it intend to appeal to the Afghan President to intervene in this case?

OJ C 291, 13/11/2008