Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai, weighed in directly today for the first time on the fate of a journalism student who has been sentenced to death for blasphemy, telling a delegation of Afghan reporters that “they had no reason to worry about him,” according to a statement released by the press-freedom organization Reporters Without Borders.

A three-judge religious court sentenced the student, Sayad Parwez Kambaksh, to death last month for offending Islam by allegedly distributing an article, printed out from the Internet, that asked why Muslim men are permitted to have four wives while women are allowed only one husband. “Parvez denies committing the crime of blasphemy and totally rejects the charge that he downloaded an offensive article from the Internet which was circulated at Balkh University, where he is a student,” Mr. Kambaksh’s brother, who is also a journalist, wrote in an article about the case. Mr. Kambaksh is appealing his conviction and remains in jail.

The Afghan Senate initially backed the religious court’s sentence, but a day later retreated from that position, saying through a spokesman that its original endorsement had been a “technical mistake.”

The case has prompted protests in Kabul, the nation’s capital, and international outrage. Amid a crescendo of calls for him to pardon Mr. Kambaksh, Mr. Karzai has remained publicly noncommittal. His spokesman indicated that the president was “concerned” and “watching the situation closely,” but would defer to the judicial process, The Independent reported.

As recently as Tuesday, the Associated Press quoted the spokesman as saying that Mr. Karzai was not planning on intervening “until the courts have their final say.” Today’s comments are the clearest indication so far that the death sentence against Mr. Kambaksh will not be carried out. —Aisha Labi