Afghan Student's Death Sentence For Women's Rights Blasphemy Reduced... To 20 Years In Prison
An appeals court today overturned a death sentence for a student convicted of blasphemy but sentenced him instead to 20 years in prison. The 24-year-old student, Parwiz Kambakhsh, ran afoul of Afghan authorities last year when he circulated an article about the rights of women under Islam after downloading it from the Internet... Kambakhsh's supporters have said the case should be thrown out because the previous trial was held in secret and he was denied legal representation - an occurrence that is not uncommon in Afghan courts.
Yeah, that's why it should be thrown out. A country where fathers sell their daughters into sexual slavery to cover loans and gambling debts, where marriages between 40 year old men and 11 year old girls are literally picturesque, where honor killings are practically a norm - and that's why the verdict should be thrown out. Luckily we've been assured by experts that the harsh treatment of women in Afghanistan has everything to do with Afghan culture and nothing to do with political Islam:
Religious conservatives had welcomed the earlier sentence against Kambakhsh. After the death penalty was decreed in his January trial, public demonstrations were held in support of the verdict, and some prominent clerics publicly declared he deserved to be executed for violating the teachings of Islam.
Almost difficult to believe that a council of Catholic bishops just declared that Islamic law is somewhat in tension with international women's rights norms.
While I've got an Afghanistan post open: that peace deal with the Taliban that our friends the Saudis so helpfully mediated - how's that going?
The beheadings are sanctioned by Qur'an 47:4, which tells Muslims to "strike at the necks" of the unbelievers -- a verse routinely ignored by the televised pundits who have assured us repeatedly that the Qur'an says nothing about beheading: "Taliban militants hijacked a bus in southern Afghanistan last week and killed as many as 40 passengers, authorities said, although only six beheaded bodies were recovered by today."
In fairness, nobody could have expected the Taliban to keep beheading civilians. So good effort all around.
References:
* Afghan student gets 20 years instead of death for blasphemy [LAT]
* The Opium Brides of Afghanistan [Newsweek]
* Afghan Women: Identity and Invasion [Democratiya]
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - Literally Picturesque Underage Marriages In Afghanistan (Plus: The NYT's Take On Temporary Marriage Is As Awesome As It Is Predictable) [MR]
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - Great News! Islam Has Nothing To Do With Honor Killings. [MR]
* Catholic Bishops Say Islamic Tenets Violate Internationally Enshrined Women's Rights, Want Church to Exercise "Caution" in its Relations With Islam..... [Zippers]
* Afghans use Saudi Arabia to broker peace with Taliban [Telegraph]b
* Taliban beheads bus passengers [Spencer]
Previously:
* Taliban Too Stupid Not To Openly Attack Coalition, Suffer Heavy Losses (Plus: NYT Gets Story Exactly Backwards)
* Taliban-Era Photos Prove That Brutal Islamist Repression Of Sexuality Not So Successful, Kind Of Surreal
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - Saudi Cleric Says You Don't Get To Use Both Your Eyes On Account Of Your Slutty, Slutty Make-Up
