Afghanistan is a struggling country, a faltering narco-state at the heart of the US “war on terror.” Not unlike Iraq, the country is experiencing a strong move towards politics dictated by religious extremism. Case study number one:
“An Afghan appeal court on Wednesday reduced to six months a two-year sentence handed to a women’s magazine editor convicted of blasphemy in a trial that prompted an outcry from international media groups.
“Ali Mohaqiq Nasab, editor of the Haqoq-e-Zan (Women’s Rights) monthly, was jailed in October and convicted and sentenced weeks later, with conservative Islamic clerics demanding the death penalty.
“The appeal court cut the sentence after the editor apologized for one of the articles in his magazine that questioned an Islamic law that bans conversion to another religion, a court official said.”
We can expect similar “blasphemy” charges in Iraq in the coming years as sharia law becomes the norm.