Parents press to see jailed aid workers

Parents and Western diplomats pressed the Taliban today to be allowed to see eight jailed foreign aid workers to develop a legal defence as their trial into charges of preaching Christianity went into its second week.

Inside the muddy brown Supreme Court building in Kabul, Chief Justice Noor Mohammed Saqib was at a weekly meeting of judges from throughout the country discussing a variety of issues, including the case of the eight jailed aid workers.

Their case was one of several that were to be discussed throughout the day, said court officials.

The judges were not expected to make any decisions regarding the case, which was expected to continue in the war-ruined capital tomorrow.

Grappling with Afghanistan’s unfamiliar legal system, the diplomats from Germany, United States and Australia, sent a written request on Sunday to the Taliban’s foreign ministry asking to see their detained nationals.

‘‘We hope they will listen to our request to sit down with everybody in one room,’’ said David Donahue, consul-general at the US Embassy in neighbouring Pakistan.

Donahue and his colleagues from Australia and Germany have been in Kabul for two weeks and have seen their detained nationals only twice, including a court appearance on Saturday.

The parents of the two American women, Dayna Curry, 29, and Heather Mercer, 24, also made a written appeal for another visit. They arrived in Kabul two weeks ago to be near their daughters and have seen them four times.

Their last encounter was an emotional one at the Supreme Court where they listened intently to the Chief Justice in an attempt to understand the legal process.

On Sunday, Curry’s mother, Nancy Cassell, and Mercer’s father, John, weighed legal options along with the three consular officers.

But Afghanistan’s legal system is uncharted waters for the diplomats and the family members.

‘‘We are walking through a minefield of procedures,’’ said Helmut Landes, the German consular officer.

The next step in the proceedings appears to be a decision by the jailed aid workers on whether they want a lawyer or whether they want to represent themselves.

‘‘We are looking at a number of different places for who could possibly work best in this environment,’’ said Donahue. It wasn’t known if the aid workers want a lawyer.

The Taliban espouse a harsh version of Islam that they say follows the literal interpretation of the Islamic holy book, the Quran.

Their interpretation has often run contrary to other Muslim countries and Islamic scholars.

However, they maintain their version is a ‘‘pure’’ Islamic system.

The eight employees of the Christian-based Shelter Now International aid group were arrested along with 16 Afghan staff in early August.

The eight aid workers - two Americans, four Germans and two Australians - have been held in a Reform School for delinquent children in the heart of Kabul since their arrest.

The Afghan employees have not been seen by international observers and will be tried separately, although the Taliban authorities have refused to say when.

Saqib also has said it was ‘‘premature’’ to discuss punishment should the aid workers be found guilty. The penalty for Afghans who convert or preach a religion other than Islam is death.

In July, the Taliban issued an edict saying the penalty for a foreigner suspected of proselytising was jail and expulsion, but Saqib has refused to say whether he is operating under that edict.