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February 3, 2008

Another case of judicial stupidity in Afghanistan… 

The latest outrage from the Muslim Middle East gives us another insight into how adherents of the religion of peace treat those who dare to think outside the box delineated by their holy book: 

Parwez Kambaksh, 23, was sentenced to death after he was tried and convicted in a Mazar-e-Sharif court on January 22 for distributing an article that commented on Quranic verses that deal with women. 

Part of the article discussed whether a Muslim man should have the right to marry more than one woman, and prosecutors deemed the work offensive to Islam. 

---CNN.com

 

Sounds reasonable to me. 

Thankfully, though, outrage from Western nations may save this young man’s life: 

A small number of Afghans have protested in Kabul and in Balkh province, but the bulk of the outrage has been from international observers. 

Media and human rights groups have called on Karzai to intervene.  

The United Nations has also condemned the sentence, and the United States last week expressed concern. Washington is holding out hope for the journalist because of the active appeals process, said State Department spokesman Tom Casey.  

The Independent, a British newspaper, has taken on Kambaksh's cause and has started a petition to free the student, said Anne Penketh, the newspaper's diplomatic editor. 

"Three days ago, we launched our petition, which as of this morning has 38,000 signatures," she said. Penketh lauded Mozafari's statement as a sign that the newspaper has already achieved "a measure of success," but said the newspaper was still calling for Karzai to pardon Kambaksh. 

The whole affair makes me kind of glad that I was born and raised an infidel….And an infidel I shall remain.