AFGHANISTAN. TRIAL OF AFGHAN EX-INTELLIGENCE CHIEF FLAWED: RIGHTS GROUP

the death sentence passed in Kabul on former Afghan intelligence chief Asadullah Sarwari followed a trial that violated basic standards of due process, Human Rights Watch said.
Sarwari had been sentenced to death on February 25 after a court found him guilty of systematic killings and other human rights violations during Afghanistan's communist era.
"A notorious human rights abuser has been convicted but his trial was so flawed that it actually represents a setback for the cause of justice in Afghanistan," said Sam Zarifi, Asia division research director for the group.
Human Rights Watch noted that Sarwari did not have legal counsel at his trial because he could not afford a lawyer, and the court could not find any lawyers willing to represent him.
The trial was summary in nature, taking only one day for the prosecution and defense to present their cases. Because the proceedings were conducted so quickly, Sarwari did not have adequate time to question witnesses or challenge the evidence against him, the rights watchdog said. Sarwari was intelligence chief under the communist government of feared president Hafizullah Amin (1978-79), whose secret police were responsible for the summary execution and disappearance of thousands of Afghans.