THE young man pictured here has been sentenced to death in Afghanistan for the “blasphemous” crime of 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 Mohammed.

According to a report by Kim Sengupta in today’s Independent, the journalism student – Sayed Pervez Kambaksh – was sentenced to death by an Islamic court.

The sentence has led to domestic and international protests, and deepening concern about erosion of civil liberties in Afghanistan.

Kambaksh, 23, distributed the tract to fellow students and teachers at Balkh University with the aim, he said, of provoking a debate on the matter. But a complaint was made against him and he was arrested, tried by religious judges without – say his friends and family – being allowed legal representation and sentenced to death.

The Independent today launched a campaign to secure justice for Mr Kambaksh. The UN, human rights groups, journalists’ organisations and Western diplomats have urged Mr Karzai’s government to intervene and free him. But the Afghan Senate passed a motion yesterday confirming the death sentence.

The MP who proposed the ruling condemning Mr Kambaksh was Sibghatullah Mojaddedi, a key ally of Mr Karzai. The Senate also attacked the international community for putting pressure on the Afghan government and urged Mr Karzai not to be influenced by outside un-Islamic views.

Demonstrations, organised by clerics, against the alleged foreign interference have been held in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, where Mr Kambaksh was arrested. Aminuddin Muzafari, the first secretary of the houses of parliament, said:

People should realise that as we are representatives of an Islamic country therefore we can never tolerate insults to reverences of Islamic religion.

At a gathering in Takhar province, Maulavi Ghulam Rabbani Rahmani, the head of the Ulema council, said:

We want the government and the courts to execute the court verdict on Kambaksh as soon as possible.

And In Parwan province, another senior cleric, Maulavi Muhammad Asif, said:

This decision is for disrespecting the holy Koran and the government should enforce the decision before it came under more pressure from foreigners.

Mr Karzai has the right to intervene and pardon Mr Kambaksh. However, even if he is freed, it would be hard for the student to escape retribution in a country where fundamentalists and warlords are increasingly in the ascendancy.

Said the Independent:

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. Sign our e-petition at www.independent.co.uk/petition.

The AP Photo in this post, by Rafiq Maqbool, shows a member of the Solidarity Party of Afghanistan holding a picture of the student during a demonstration against his death sentence outside the United Nations office in Kabul, Afghanistan, today. Hundreds of people demanded the release of the Afghan journalist.