Media groups decry Afghan ruling

Rights groups want all charges against Mr Kambakhsh dropped

Media rights groups have condemned the 20-year jail term given to an Afghan journalism student for blasphemy.

Reporters Without Borders branded as "shameful" the ruling by an Afghan appeals court, which commuted an earlier death sentence.

The group said the trial of 24-year-old Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh was marred by what it called ideological distortion, a lack of evidence and delays.

Another watchdog called for all charges to be dropped.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said the overturning of the death sentence was an "encouraging step towards justice" but it demanded all charges against Mr Kambakhsh be withdrawn.

"In a country where freedom of expression is constitutionally enshrined, no journalist or indeed any person who accesses or publishes publicly available information should face death or life imprisonment," AFP quoted the federation as saying.

In a statement, Reporters Without Borders said it was "outraged" by the sentence handed to Kambakhsh.

"The appeal court has eliminated the possibility of his being executed, but it has also exposed the degree to which some Afghan judges are susceptible to pressure from fundamentalists," it said.

A court in his home city of Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan condemned Mr Kambakhsh to death in October 2007 for distributing an article which questioned Islamic attitudes to women.

Mr Kambakhsh said he had been tortured into making a confession and was not given a defence lawyer in his original trial.

His family said they will continue to fight for his full release.