To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the implications of the custodial sentence imposed on journalist Sayed Pervez Kambaksh for his Department’s plans to provide assistance to the legal and judicial sector in Afghanistan. (285356)

The Department for International Development (DFID) has no plans to provide funding to the formal legal and judicial sector in Afghanistan.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) leads on UK assistance to the rule of law in Afghanistan. FCO engagement in Afghanistan, like all UK support to legal and judicial systems worldwide, is aimed at improving human rights and the rule of law. The challenges faced in the Afghan legal and judicial system demonstrate why it is so important that the UK remains engaged in this sector.