Facebook groups supporting Afghani reporter gather members worldwide
By Leah McBride Mensching, Wednesday 6 February 2008 at 17:07 :: Press Freedom & Laws :: #1213 :: rss
More than 800 users from around the world have joined a Facebook group formed to defend 23-year-old Afghani journalism student Sayad Parwez Kambaksh, who was sentenced to death by an Afghan court for insulting Islam. Another group, Save Sayed Pervez (sic) Kambaksh, has garnered more than 2,000 members, and a total of 19 groups on Kambaksh's behalf have been created on the social networking site.
Kambaksh's crime: downloading from the Internet and distributing to fellow students a paper that states the oppression of women is not justified by the Koran or Muhammad's teachings.
The Balkh University student who works as a journalist at Jahan-i-Naw newspaper in Mazar-i-Sharif has been in jail since October and will remain there while the case goes to an appeals court, Brand Republic reported Wednesday. When he took the paper to school to discuss it with classmates and his teacher, several students allegedly complained to the government, which led to his arrest.
Although 800 or even 2,000 is not a jaw-dropping number for a Facebook group (the group 1,000,000 Strong for Stephen T. Colbert has more than 1,409,000 members), it is noteworthy, especially since the 800+ members of the Defend Sayad Parwez Kambaksh group are a socially conscious set, writing to their political representatives and Afghan embassies on Kambaksh's behalf.
The group Save Sayed Pervez (sic) Kambaksh, along with many other groups dedicated to him, call on members to urge their political representatives to exert pressure on Afghani President Hamid Karzai's government to overturn Kambaksh's sentence.
Defend Sayad Parwez Kambaksh includes links to template letters, which can be sent to Karzai's administration.
More than 67,000 people worldwide have now signed the Independent's petition to “urge the UK Foreign Office to put all possible pressure on the Afghan government to prevent the execution of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh,” according to the Independent.
The international protests may be working. On Saturday, the Independent reported that the Afghan Senate withdrew its death sentence confirmation on Kambaksh, calling its previous decision to support the death sentence ruling “a technical mistake,” a move that raises hopes he will be freed.
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