【英语国际】沙特作家推特失言 逃亡马来西亚遭遣返

A 23-year-old Saudi columnist who had fled Saudi Arabia amid a furor over his tweets on the Prophet Muhammad on Sunday was deported to his home country, where a senior official said he would likely face a charge of apostasy, which typically carries the death penalty.

Authorities in Malaysia surrendered Hamza Kashgari on Sunday morning to Saudi officials in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. Mr. Kashgari had fled there on Wednesday, amid a public campaign by Saudi clerics and their followers on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube demanding he be executed for his tweets.

In the tweets, the Jeddah-based writer examined his complex feelings about the founder of Islam.

The Saudi government had no immediate official comment. A senior Saudi government official said on Sunday that while it wasn't yet clear what charges Mr. Kashgari will face, charges will likely include apostasy, or renunciation of Islam.

Many Saudi clerics believe apostasy must always be punished by death, even in cases where the alleged culprit recants and retracts, as Mr. Kashgari did, by Twitter.

International human-rights groups urged Malaysia not to surrender Mr. Kashgari. Amnesty International called Mr. Kashgari a 'prisoner of conscience,' while Human Rights Watch said Malaysia's government should allow the columnist to take refuge in the country of his choice, and 'not be complicit in sealing Kashgari's fate by sending him back.'

Mr. Kashgari's lawyer in Malaysia, Muhammad Afiq Bin Mohamad Noor, said on Sunday that Malaysia police told him Mr. Kashgari had been held by antiterror police while there. The lawyer added that he had been denied access to Mr. Kashgari. Authorities in Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country, also ignored a last-minute injunction Sunday morning barring Mr. Kashgari's forced return home, the lawyer said.

Malaysian Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein defended the deportation. 'The nature of the charges against the individual in this case are a matter for the Saudi Arabian authorities,' he said.

A person familiar with the writer's movements said he arrived safely in Malaysia and headed for a hotel, but was advised by friends that it wouldn't be wise to remain in the country. Arrangements were made to fly him to New Zealand, this person said, but he was detained Thursday when he returned to the airport.

Although Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim nation, its leaders have taken pains to present it as a moderate, progressive nation open to Western investment and ideas. But Malaysia also has worked hard to maintain good relations with more-conservative Muslim countries as it tries to burnish its credentials as a global center of Islamic finance and tourism for visitors from Middle Eastern countries.

沙特一位23岁的专栏作家因其有关先知穆罕默德(Prophet Muhammad)的推特信息引发众怒而逃亡国外。周日这位作家被遣送回国。沙特阿拉伯的一位高级官员说，他将面临叛教的指控，而该罪名通常意味着死刑。

周日上午，马来西亚当局在首都吉隆坡将喀什葛里(Hamza Kashgari)交给了沙特官员。喀什葛里于上周三逃到了吉隆坡，沙特的神职人员及其追随者在推特、Facebook和YouTube上发起了公开的声讨，要求处决喀什葛里。

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images一名沙特网民正在位于利雅得的一个咖啡馆内查看自己的推特帐户。喀什葛里居住在沙特的吉达市(Jeddah)，他在推特信息中审视了自己对伊斯兰教创始人的复杂情感。

沙特政府没有立即对此事置评。沙特政府的一名高级官员周日说，尽管目前还不清楚喀什葛里将会受到何种指控，但对他的指控中很可能会包括伊斯兰教法中的叛教罪。

许多沙特阿拉伯的牧师都认为叛教罪必须被处以死刑，即使受控者公开认错并收回其原先说过的话。喀什葛里在推特上认了错。

国际人权组织要求马拉西亚不要交出喀什葛里。大赦国际(Amnesty International)称喀什葛里是“良心的囚徒”，而人权观察组织(Human Rights Watch)说，马来西亚政府应该允许专栏作家在自己选择的国家避难，而不应将喀什葛里遣送回国、与沙特政府串通一气决定喀什葛里的命运。

喀什葛里在马来西亚的律师努尔(Afiq Bin Mohamad Noor)周日说，马来西亚警方告诉他，喀什葛里在马来西亚时就已经被反恐警察控制。律师补充说，他已经被禁止同喀什葛里联系。他说，马来西亚政府当局周日上午还忽视了法院在最后时刻发布的禁止强制遣返喀什葛里的禁令。马来西亚人口以穆斯林为主。

马来西亚内政部长侯赛因(Hishammuddin Hussein)为遣送行为进行了辩护。他说，在此事件中，对个人进行何种性质的指控是沙特政府的事。

一位熟悉这名作家动向的人士说，喀什葛里安全抵达马来西亚，随后前往一家酒店，但是朋友劝告他说，呆在马来西亚不是明智的选择。这名人士说，喀什葛里当时已计划飞往新西兰，但是在周四回到机场时遭到扣押。

尽管马来西亚的穆斯林人口占大多数，其领导人一直竭力将该国形象打造成温和而进步的国家，对西方的投资和理念持开放态度。但是，马来西亚同时也努力与更保守的穆斯林国家保持良好的关系，极力打造其作为伊斯兰世界的全球金融中心以及中东游客旅游目的地的形象。