Afghanistan Women's Rights Magazine Editor Arrested For "Un-Islamic" Writing

One article in the magazine criticizes the practice of punishing adultery with one-hundred lashes. A second article says that giving up Islam should not be a crime. According to news reports, clerics gave the articles to Mohaiuddin Baluch, who is President Hamid Karzai’s advisor on religious issues.

Mr. Baluch turned the articles over to Afghanistan's Supreme Court. The court called on the country's attorney general to investigate. That investigation led to Mr. Nasab's arrest. Although Mr. Nasab did not write the articles, he is the only person that has been charged. His case is being reviewed by the Press Commission, which is a division of the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture.

Ann Cooper is executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent monitoring organization. In a news release, she says, "We are disturbed by this arrest, which reflects a recent pattern of deteriorating press freedom conditions in Afghanistan. Ms. Cooper says her committee "call[s] for the immediate release of Ali Mohaqiq Nasab. Journalists," she says, "should not be jailed because of their work."

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New York, October 11, 2005—The editor of a monthly magazine about women's rights went on trial today in Kabul's provincial court on blasphemy charges for publishing articles purported to offend Islam.

The prosecutor asked the court to "severely punish" Ali Mohaqiq Nasab, editor of the monthly Haqooq-i-Zan (Women's Rights), as "a lesson for him and others," the Afghan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA) reported. A court official told Reuters that a group of religious leaders were demanding a 10- to 15-year jail sentence for the editor.

Nasab, an Islamic scholar who is defending himself, denied that he had committed blasphemy and attempted to defend the position of the articles in court. Local press freedom advocates who were in court said that Nasab was not allowed to answer the charges in full, and that as many as 15 judges questioned the editor, creating a chaotic atmosphere. The hearing will continue Wednesday.

The attorney general ordered Nasab's arrest on October 1 after the religious adviser to President Hamid Karzai, Mohaiuddin Baluch, filed a complaint about the magazine. "I took the two magazines and spoke to the Supreme Court chief, who wrote to attorney general to investigate," Baluch told The Associated Press.

In the allegedly blasphemous articles, Nasab questioned the use of harsh punishments under traditional Islamic law, such as amputating the hands of thieves as punishment for stealing, and publicly stoning those accused of adultery, according to international news accounts. He has been in custody since October 1.

"The arrest and trial of Ali Mohaqeq Nasab on blasphemy charges is a giant step backward for press freedom in Afghanistan," CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said. "Nasab should be released immediately and without condition."

Writings considered anti-Islamic are prohibited under a revised media law signed in March 2004, but the law is vaguely worded and local journalists are uncertain what constitutes a violation. That uncertainty and this trial could have a chilling effect on writing about religious issues, local media sources say.

The media law also stipulates that journalists can be legally detained only with the approval of a 17-member commission of government officials and journalists. Fazel Sangcharaki, a deputy minister at the ministry of information and culture, told Reuters that Nasab's arrest was technically illegal, and that the editor should be transferred to the commission's custody.

In 2003, two editors of the weekly Aftab were jailed for a week on blasphemy charges for publishing a controversial series of articles condemning crimes committed by senior Afghan leaders in the name of Islam. The two editors were later cleared of the charges, but they were forced to leave the country because of threats against their lives.

http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Afghan11oct05na.html

Editor of Afghan Women's Rights Magazine Remains Jailed

The editor of an Afghan women's rights magazine has been jailed for ten days so far on charges of publishing articles criticizing execution and other severe punishments for adultery, thievery, and murder under Sharia (Islamic) law. Ali Mohaqiq Nasab, the male editor of Haqooq-i-zan, which means Women’s Rights, was reportedly arrested at the urging of Mohaiuddin Baluch, who serves as a religious advisor to President Hamid Karzai.

“This is of grave concern,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority. “The United States is telling the world that the US is supporting women’s rights and democracy in Afghanistan. Freedom of speech is fundamental to women’s rights and democracy.”

The Feminist Majority is calling on women’s rights supporters in the United States to email Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Under Secretary for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky to seek the immediate release of Ali Mohaqiq Nasab and to urge the global community to join them in their efforts.

http://www.msmagazine.com/news/uswirestory.asp?ID=9322