[JURIST] Former Afghan parliamentarian Malalai Joya [BBC profile] said Saturday that she has hired a lawyer and is now fighting her controversial May 2007 removal from the Wolesi Jirga [IRIN backgrounder], the lower house of the Afghan parliament [official website]. Joya was expelled [JURIST report] after she compared the parliament to a stable in a private television interview. In a petition filed in February, Joya challenged the constitutionality of her removal, arguing that it violated the principles of democracy and her freedom of speech. Joya said that her case is progressing and that she has also met with the chief justice of Afghanistan's Supreme Court to discuss her case. Joya waited nearly a year to challenge her removal because she said she feared for her safety and did not have enough money to hire a lawyer.

In 2005, Joya won a seat in the first democratically elected Afghan parliament in 30 years, and has since made a reputation for her outspoken criticism of human rights abusers. At the parliament's inaugural session [BBC report] Joya called for Afghanistan's "criminal warlords" to be brought to justice [JURIST report], prompting pounding fists and shouts from other members. AP has more. AFP has additional coverage.