Afghan journalist gets two years in jail for blasphemy
(Afghanistan)
Updated: 2005-10-24 10:15

A women's magazine editor has been sentenced to two years in jail after being convicted of blasphemy for publishing anti-Islamic articles, including one challenging a belief that Muslims who convert to other religions should be stoned to death, a judge said Sunday.

The case underlines the fragility of press freedoms in the nascent democracy and highlights a struggle between religious moderates and extremists over what form Islam will take in Afghanistan as foundations are laid for its future.

Ali Mohaqiq Nasab was arrested on Oct. 1 after his magazine Haqooq-i-Zan — Women's Rights — argued that giving up Islam was not a crime that should be punished by death, as sanctioned by some interpretations of Islamic Shariah law.

On Saturday, Kabul's Primary Court convicted Mohaqiq of blasphemy, said presiding judge Ansarullah Malawizada.

"The Ulama Council sent us a letter saying that he should be punished so I sentenced him to two years' jail," the judge told The Associated Press. The Ulama Council is Afghanistan's main body of Islamic clergy and is controlled by conservative clerics.

The other articles deemed blasphemous criticized the practice of punishing adultery with 100 lashes and argued that men and women should be considered by Islamic law to be equals. In some cases, the testimony of a female witness is considered to have only half the value of a male.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has called for the immediate release of Mohaqiq.

Afghanistan is a conservative Islamic country. Under a revised March 2004 media law signed by Karzai, content deemed insulting to Islam is banned. Criminal penalties were left vaguely worded, leaving open the possibility of punishment in accordance with Shariah, or Islamic law.

Mohaqiq has three weeks to appeal the verdict. It was not immediately possible to contact him or his lawyers.