Kabul's Model Prisoner

He rises at dawn for prayers, practices bodybuilding, then goes to his paid job running the canteen at Kabul jail. Later in the day, he teaches English classes to more than 100 prisoners and supervises another teacher’s Dari classes. He also oversees other inmates who work as assistants in the jail. In his spare time, he studies medicine and literature from books donated to the prison.

As a child, Azam was recognised as a prodigy – he could read and write by the time he was two and a half. At 10, he was admitted to medical school in Kabul. But war and his family’s poverty prevented him from completing his studies.

Azam, along with his siblings, mother, and grandmother, all suffered years of beatings and abuse from his father, Sayed Mohammad Iqbal, the family said. At 16, Azam watched his father beat his mother to death. The next year, Iqbal inflicted burns on Azam’s younger sisters.

Finally, the model son killed his father in revenge. His grandmother told IWPR last year that her son – Azam’s father – deserved to die. “If I were able, I would have killed him myself,” she said. (For IWPR’s story on his arrest, see: Brutalised Child Prodigy Driven to Murder http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/arr/arr_200303_54_2_eng.txt )

Azam, who is now serving a four-year sentence, said he is happy with his work, his studies, and the praise and trust he receives from his jailers.

But he worries about where he will spend the next three years of his sentence. He is scheduled to be moved to Pul-i-Charkhi prison, where he will be housed with other murderers. Azam fears that he won’t be able to study there. He is also concerned that the prison, which is 10 kilometres from Kabul, is too far away for his grandmother and siblings to visit.

Qazi Habib, Azam’s lawyer, is appealing to the justice ministry to keep his client away from the hardened criminals of Pul-i-Charkhi. He is also asking the supreme court for a reduction in sentence.

Azam is a popular figure at the Kabul jail. General Abdul Fatah, the head of the jail, said he won’t let Azam be transferred as long as he’s in charge.

“Sayed Azam is an intelligent and clever boy, and his talent is valuable,” Fatah said. “It is true that he is a criminal, but we are trying to prevent him from being shifted to Pul-i-Charkhi, because many prisoners [in Kabul jail] learn something from him,” he said.

Farida Nekzad is an IWPR staff reporter in Kabul.