By KUNA
Kabul : The Meshrano Jirga or Upper House of the Afghan parliament Wednesday endorsed the death penalty to a student of journalism awarded by a primary court about a fortnight back.
The 23-year-old Pervez Kabakhsh was condemned to death by a local court for downloading “blasphemous” material from the Internet and distributing it among his fellow students at a university in the city of Mazare Sharif.
The sentence, which was criticised by human rights bodies as well as the United Nations, can be challenged at a high court and then a supreme court before its implementation.
The meeting of the Meshrano Jirga was held with its chairman and former president Sibghatullah Mujaddid in the chair. In its statement, the members of the Afghan senate said the foreign aid-giving agencies and governments should not pressure the Afghan government and the judiciary and let them decide cases in their own way.
The House observed that the student had committed disrespect to Islam by downloading the blasphemous material and distributing it to fellow students.