Sayad Parwez Kambaksh, who was not represented by a lawyer at the trial, has been jailed since October and will remain in custody while the case goes to an appeal court.
Fazel Wahab, the chief judge in the northern province of Balkh, where the trial was held, said Kambaksh would be sentenced to death after distributing a paper that humiliated Islam. He added that the case would now go to the first of two appeal courts.
Kambaksh, who works as a journalist at the Jahan-i-Naw newspaper in Mazar-i-Sharif and is a student at Balkh University, reportedly took the downloaded paper to school to discuss it with his teacher and classmates. Several students allegedly complained to the government, leading to Kambaksh's arrest.
Kambaksh's family and Rhimullah Samandar, the head of the National Journalists Union of Afghanistan, denounced the verdict.
However, reports suggest that he is in fact being punished for investigative pieces written by his brother exposing human rights abuses by political and paramilitary factions in northern Afghanistan.
Samandar said: "We completely condemn this trial. It goes against the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press."
President Hamid Karzai can reportedly intervene and pardon Kambaksh, saving him from death.
A Facebook group called has been set up today to protest against the verdict. It has already attracted 126 members..jpg)
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