Afghan student to die for blasphemy

KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- An Afghanistan court has sentenced a university student in Kabul to death for blasphemy for distributing anti-Islamic material among fellow students.

Pervez Kambux, 23, was arrested in October and was expelled from the journalism program at Balkh University, Kuwait's KUNA news agency reported Wednesday. He was replaced by a "Western educated person," the report said.

His brother, Yaqoob Ibrahimi, said the family received a notice from the court notifying them of the death sentence.

The report said the majority of judges in Afghanistan from lower courts up through the Supreme Court are Islamic mullahs or other religious appointees.

Last year, the government hurriedly flew a man who had converted to Christianity out of the country to Italy when demonstrators called for his execution, the report said.