Reza Khan

Case record: Reza Khan

Overview

Reza Khan died on October 8, 2007. He was charged on August 5, 2004 in Kabul, Afghanistan of murder, rape, and robbery involving four journalists on November 19, 2001. He was also accused of cutting off the noses and ears of four Afghan men because of their short beards. Khan was convicted in November 2004 and executed in Afghanistan on October 8, 2007.

The victims

The four journalists were:

• Harry Burton
• Maria Grazia Cutuli
• Azizullah Haidari
• Julio Fuentes

They were traveling in a convoy from Jalalabad to Kabul when a group of armed men dragged them from their cars and murdered them.

The offence

Khan’s convictions included robbing and shooting three foreigners and an Afghan after holding them up on a road east of Kabul in 2001. He was also found guilty of raping one of them, Italian Maria Grazia Cutuli.

On separate charges, Khan was also found guilty of killing one of his wives and holding up a bus and cutting off the noses and ears of four male passengers.

Khan was accused of cutting off the noses and ears of four Afghan men because of their short beards.

Investigation and confessions

Khan confessed to being one of eleven people who stopped the vehicles. He personally killed one of the foreign men and raping Cutuli. He said they got their orders from Taliban leader Maulawi Latif.

Khan also confessed to killing his own wife in Pakistan.

Trial

A court in Kabul sentenced Khan to death in November 2004.

Sentencing remarks

“The crimes are proven and there is no doubt about it,” the presiding judge said as he passed sentence on Khan, 29, in a Kabul court.

During the trial, the journalists were stopped as they travelled from Jalalabad to Kabul in November 2001, just days after the Taleban left the capital.

In court, Khan denied shooting any of the journalists and also denied the rape, according to Reuters news agency. He also alleged an order to kill them had come from a top Taleban commander.

Khan appeared in court in a traditional woollen hat and had a yellow blanked draped over his shoulders. He was given leave to appeal.

In addition to the journalists, the other victims were described as:

• Australian television cameraman Harry Burton
• Afghan photographer Azizullah Haidari of Reuters
• Julio Fuentes of El Mundo

Charges and convictions reflected in the case record

• Murder involving four journalists
• Robbery involving four journalists
• Rape involving one of the journalists, Maria Grazia Cutuli
• Killing one of his wives
• Holding up a bus
• Cutting off the noses and ears of four male passengers
• Cutting off the noses and ears of four Afghan men because of their short beards

Timeline

• August 5, 2004 — Reza Khan was charged in Kabul, Afghanistan of murder, rape, and robbery involving four journalists on November 19, 2001.
• November 2004 — Khan was convicted in November 2004.
• October 8, 2007 — Reza Khan was executed in Afghanistan by shooting.

Appeals

Khan was given leave to appeal.

Outcome and execution

Reza Khan was convicted and sentenced to death. He was executed in Afghanistan on October 8, 2007.

Other details

Death penalty for Afghan killer BBC News November 20, 2004: An Afghan accused of killing four journalists in 2001 was sentenced to death by a court in Kabul.

On separate charges, an Afghan court sentenced to death three men for killing 11 Chinese road workers in June (mentioned in the same context as Reza Khan’s sentencing).