Human Rights Watch — a global human rights watchdog — urged Malaysian authorities not to extradite the newspaper columnist better known as Hamza Kashgari to Saudi Arabia, saying Malaysia would be sealing his fate if it did so.
“Saudi clerics have already made up their up mind that Kashgari is an apostate who must face punishment,” said Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch in a media statement yesterday.
Hamza Kashgari was picked up two days ago by the police after touching down at the KL International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang at the request of Saudi authorities after posting several comments that purportedly mocked Islam and Prophet Muhammad online.
It is considered blasphemous to insult the Prophet. Blasphemy is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia.
According to the Human Rights Watch, an official Saudi religious body declared Kashgari an apostate on February 8.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein confirmed yesterday that Kashgari is under arrest and that the police are currently in contact with Saudi authorities to determine the next course of action.
The 23-year-old Kashgari had allegedly posted the offending comments on his Twitter feed last weekend, which coincided with Prophet Muhammad’s birthday.
It sparked thousands of outraged comments and calls for his execution on Twitter and other social networking sites, international news agency Reuters reported.
The exact nature of his comments cannot be verified as he later deleted them, but media reported that one of them reflected his contradictory views of the Prophet.
Lawyer Muhammad Afiq Muhammad Noor who claims to represent Kashgari told Human Rights Watch that he has not been able to see his client despite formal requests to the Home ministry.
