A/HRC/10/23 page 14 of expression only existed on paper and that the media was a mere tool of the powerful. In July 2008, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) arrested and detained a television journalist who aired a critical review of the President’s administration. The journalist eventually sought asylum abroad given fears that his life was under threat. Women journalists also continue to be specifically targeted. 52. Freedom of the media was also under significant threat in the areas affected by armed conflict. Kidnappings and killings of journalists continued. In June 2008, an Afghan BBC journalist working in Helmand province was abducted and killed. Though the Taliban claimed responsibility for the incident, the killing may have been linked to investigations into corruption. The killing led to 10 journalists leaving Helmand province. 53. A prominent case this year was that of Sayed Parveiz Kambashkh, a journalism student sentenced to death on the charge of insulting and disavowing Islam in January 2008. He was alleged to have downloaded, from the Internet, an article concerned with the status and rights of women, in the context of Islam, and disseminating this, with added commentary, to other students. The Appeals Court reduced his sentence to 20 years in October 2008, but upheld the conviction. In addition to the severity of the sentence, there are concerns over apparent irregularities in the conduct of the trial at both primary and appeal levels. 54. There are strong concerns that in the months leading up to the 2009 elections, the media will continue to self-censor or be pressured into broadcasting only views favourable to a certain political line and that candidates and citizens will not be permitted to fully express their opinions due to threats, intimidations and attacks. Setbacks to the media, and efforts to maintain freedom of expression, are of major concern. This is additionally regrettable given that the media, in recent years, had been flourishing. B. Elections 55. Elections for President, Parliament and Provincial Councils are scheduled to take place in 2009. In anticipation, a staggered exercise to update voter registration was scheduled from October 2008 to March 2009 throughout the country. 56. An area of particular concern is the ability of women to exercise their right to participate in public life, which includes standing for office, supporting candidates, and voting. During the voter registration process, some women were unable to update or register to vote because registration centres were located almost exclusively in district centres. Cultural practices in many conservative and conflict-affected areas restricted women’s freedom of movement. During voting, such problems are expected to be mitigated by having more polling locations, though many women will still not be able to participate due to restrictions on movement and lack of awareness of their rights. Adequate numbers of female staff to undertake outreach and civic education activities and to run women’s voting centres are still lacking. Whether women will be able to stand for office in comparable numbers to the 2005 election cycle remains to be seen; increasing insecurity and renewed religious cultural pressure could reduce the number of women willing to participate.