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His offense, according to the Afghan courts and conservative clerics, was to contravene the teachings of Islam by printing essays in his monthly magazine, Women's Rights, that questioned legal discrimination against women, harsh physical punishments for criminals and rigid intolerance of Muslims who abandon their faith.

The essays, published in May, attracted the belated attention of a prominent Muslim cleric, who delivered a sermon several months later denouncing Nasab as an infidel. Nasab reported the incident to Afghanistan's justice system, but instead of receiving the protection he had expected, he was arrested, put on trial and sentenced to two years in prison. Nasab, 47, has appealed to a higher court, but so have the prosecutors. They contend the two-year sentence was far too lenient, and that unless he apologizes, he should hang.

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[ December 23, 2005, 10:57 AM: Message edited by: Bob_Scopatz ]
 

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Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
 
He's a brave man for taking on the idiots in his country. I hope this ends well for him and the country.
 

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Posted by tern (Member # 7429) on :
 
That's a real shame. I guess the Taliban isn't quite as far gone as we'd like to imagine.
 

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Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
 
Washington Post

Update: The man has apologized in exchange for a six-month suspended sentence. I don't blame him, but the resolution is that the religious law stands and women do NOT have equal rights in courts.
 

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Posted by Sopwith (Member # 4640) on :
 
So the talk of freedoms in Afghanistan, once it came to self rule, is just talk in the end?

Afghanistan has always been resistant, violently so, to change of any sort. I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
 

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