From: EurasiaDigest (digest@eurasianet.org)
Date: Mon Feb 27 2006 - 10:03:31 EST
FORMER AFGHAN COMMUNIST SPY CHIEF SENTENCED TO DEATH
A judge in Kabul sentenced Asadullah Sarwari to death on 25 February, official National Afghanistan Television reported. "We, the appointed judicial commission of the court against internal and foreign crimes, charge Asadullah Sarwari with killing hundreds of our Muslim and [mujahedin] brothers.... According to Article 130 of the constitution, we sentence you...to death," the judge said during sentencing. "The government at the time was like a machine, and I was just a part of the machine," Sarwari told the court and rejected all charges, "The Washington Post" reported on 26 February. Sarwari oversaw the intelligence service of Afghanistan's communist regime in 1978 under former communist ruler Nur Mohammad Taraki. Article 130 of the constitution stipulates that if there are no provisions in the document or "other laws regarding ruling on an issue, the court's decisions shall be...in accord with the Hanafi [one of the four major Sunni branches] jurisprudence." Sarwari's case is unprecedented in Afghanistan a
nd if other officials both from the communist and mujahedin governments are indicted for crimes against humanity, some members of the current National Assembly could face similar charges (sees "RFE/RL Afghanistan Report," 28 November 2005 and 16 January 2006). AT
|
