August 8, 2003	Friday	Jumadi-us-Sani 9, 1424

PARIS, Aug 7: Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF), the international journalists’ rights organization, on Thursday voiced its outrage at the decision by the Afghan Supreme Court to uphold the death sentence for journalists Sayeed Mahdawi and Ali Reza Payam.

According to RSF spokesman Vincent Brossel, the two men were found guilty of “blasphemy” for having criticized the political use of religion by conservative leaders and for practising a ‘reactionary’ form of the religion. The two journalists are currently in hiding within Afghanistan.

In a letter to President Hamid Karzai, RSF said it was “regrettable to once again see the conservatives who dominate the Afghan judicial system abuse their power to attack freedom of expression.” The organization urged him to ensure the safety of the two journalists and called for reform of the apex court “so that it becomes an independent body that guarantees individual freedoms.”