Afghan journalism student sentenced to 20 years

An Afghan appeals court has overturned a death sentence for 24-year old Parwez Kambakhsh, a journalism student accused of blasphemy, and instead sentenced him to 20 years in prison.

Kambakhsh was studying journalism at Balkh University in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif and writing for local newspapers when he was arrested in October 2007. Prosecutors allege that Kambakhsh disrupted classes by asking questions about women's rights under Islam. They also said he distributed an article about Islam. A lower court sentenced him to death in a trial critics have called flawed. (AP)