by The3rdColumn
Thu Jan 31st, 2008 at 09:03:51 PM EST
Calling all defenders of human rights!
Help save the life of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, a young Afghan who's been sentenced to death for downloading a report from a Farsi website which stated that Muslim fundamentalists who claimed the Koran justified the oppression of women had misrepresented the views of the prophet Mohamed.
The 23-year old Afghan student was arrested and tried by religious judges after he distributed the tract to fellow students and teachers at Balkh University with the aim, he said, of provoking a debate on the matter, reports the Independent.
The story is in The Independent's Friday, 1 February 2008 edition: Save Pervez! Global protests to save Afghan student from death sentence
Independent's e-petition: How you can save Pervez
Sayed Pervez Kambaksh's imminent execution is an affront to civilised values. It is not, however, a foregone conclusion. If enough international pressure is brought to bear on President Karzai's government, his sentence may yet be overturned. Add your weight to the campaign by urging the Foreign Office to demand that his life be spared.
NB: Apologies, can't seem to embed link here but easy enough to access e-pettion by going direct to: www.Independent dot co dot uk slash petition.
Update:
The Independent has just headlined Lifeline for Pervez: Afghan Senate pulls back from death sentence
The Afghan Senate has withdrawn its confirmation of a death sentence on Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, the student convicted of blasphemy for downloading a report on women's rights from the internet.
According to the British medium, more than 38,000 of its readers have joined the campaign to save Sayed Pervez Kambaksh but warns that while the breakthrough shows the impact has had, the Afghan student's fate is
by no means decided and is calling on readers to step up the campaign
by urging the UK Foreign Office to put all possible pressure on the Afghan government to spare his life.
E-petition link at www.independent.co.uk/petition
