Lifeline for Pervez: Afghan Senate withdraws demand for death sentence
In a dramatic U-turn the Afghan Senate have withdrawn the confirmation of the death sentence of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh which has caused international outrage after he was sentenced to death for downloading a report on women's rights from the internet.
Here in Britain the case was highlighted by the Independent newspaper, which has had a huge impact, certainly in galvanising Britain's MP's to pay attention to this case:The move follows widespread international protests and appeals to the President, Hamid Karzai, after the case was highlighted by The Independent and more than 31,000 readers signed our petition to secure justice for Mr Kambaksh. In Britain, the Foreign Secretary David Miliband, the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg and the shadow Foreign Secretary, William Hague, backed the campaign, and there have been demonstrations in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
And apparently the Afghan President, Mr Karzai, has been inundated with emails from all over the world concerning this case. And yesterday, finally, the Afghan Senate let it be known that they were reconsidering their decision:
The Senate statement, read out by Aminuddin Muzafari, secretary to the upper house, said: "The position of the upper house regarding distributing anti-Islamic articles, via an Iranian website, was that the upper house approved of the prosecution of such acts by the judiciary. The nature of the sentence, considering the judiciary's independence, would be up to the court itself.
"The upper house respects the rights of the accused, such as the right to have a defence lawyer, the right of appeal and other legal rights. But approval of the death sentence, in the statement published recently from the address of the upper house, was a technical mistake."
It's not over by a long chalk but the very fact that the Afghan Senate have taken a step back already is certainly a good sign. Mr Kambaksh can now petition the court of appeal against both his conviction and sentence, and, afterwards, the supreme court. If he fails there, he can appeal directly to Mr Karzai, who is said to be taking "a keen interest" in the case.
It is being said that this decision by the Afghan Senate will now make it much easier for judges to commute Mr Kambaksh's death sentence. Specialists of the Afghan legal system are acknowledging that outside pressure has had a huge influence on this decision.
Selim Mohammed Nasruddin, an analyst of the Afghan legal system, said the upper house had "taken a really dangerous step in saying this journalist should be killed – it put tremendous pressure on the appeal courts. What they have done now makes it easier for the judges to commute the death sentence.
"It also makes it politically easier for Mr Karzai to free this man if he wants to. Those who are progressive in this country are glad this has happened. What is very worrying is that it took pressure from outside the country for the upper house to rectify this error."
If you haven't already signed the petition please consider signing it now and keeping the pressure on our government to make sure Karzai does the right thing. As the Independent says today:
More than 31,000 readers of The Independent have now joined the campaign to save Sayed Pervez Kambaksh - and yesterday's breakthrough shows the impact this petition has had. But the student's fate is by no means decided.
So add your voice to the campaign by urging the Foreign Office to put all possible pressure on the Afghan government to spare his life. Sign our e-petition at
www.independent.co.uk/petition
Click title for full article.
No comments:
Post a Comment