High price of free speech

Not death, but 20 years in prison

Kabul, Afghanistan —- An Afghan appeals court overturned a death sentence Tuesday for a journalism student accused of blasphemy for asking questions in class about women’s rights under Islam. But the judges still sentenced him to 20 years in prison. The case against 24-year-old Parwez Kambakhsh, whose brother has angered Afghan warlords with his own writings, has come to symbolize Afghanistan’s slide toward an ultraconservative view on religious and individual freedoms.

The case can be appealed to the Supreme Court, the highest court in Afghanistan.

Kambakhsh was studying journalism at Balkh University in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif and writing for local newspapers when he was arrested in October 2007.

Besides the accusation that Kambakhsh disrupted class with his questions, prosecutors also said he illegally distributed an article he printed off the Internet that asks why Islam does not modernize to give women equal rights. He also allegedly wrote his own comments on the paper.

Writer arrested for Quran quotes

Amman, Jordan —- Jordanian police arrested a local writer Tuesday for incorporating verses of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, into his love poetry, a judicial official said. The poet, Islam Samhan, published his collection of poems, “Grace Like a Shadow,” without the approval of the Jordanian government, and authorities say it insults the holy book, the official said.

Samhan was charged with harming the Islamic faith and violating the press and publication law for combining the sacred words of the Quran with sexual themes. If convicted, the poet could face up to three years in jail.

Jordanian law bans the publication of any books or articles that could be seen as harmful to Islam and its Prophet Muhammad.

Suspect in murder plot can stay

Copenhagen, Denmark —- A Tunisian man who faced deportation from Denmark because he was suspected of plotting to kill a cartoonist has been freed from detention after winning permission to stay. The man was released Monday after the Refugee Appeals Board said he could not be deported because he could face persecution in Tunisia, Danish police said Tuesday.

The 36-year-old Tunisian was granted permission to stay with limited rights. He has no access to social security benefits or supplied housing and has no right to work. He has to report to the police regularly and can leave Denmark but cannot return.

Two Tunisian men were arrested Feb. 12 on suspicion of plotting to murder Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, who drew a Muhammad caricature that sparked violent protests worldwide. In August, the other Tunisian man voluntarily left Denmark.

The suspects had faced administrative deportation without a trial. Their names have not been released because of a court order.

Police claim the two men planned to strangle the 73-year-old cartoonist in 2007.

Westergaard drew one of the 12 Muhammad caricatures that were first published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005. The cartoons were later reprinted by other Western publications, bringing violent protests and attacks on Danish embassies. Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.