Afghan appeal court spares blasphemy mob killers

An Afghan appeal court has overturned death sentences given to four men for the mob killing in March of a woman falsely accused of blasphemy in Kabul, a judge said yesterday.

The woman, Farkhunda, 27, was savagely beaten and her body set ablaze in broad daylight, triggering protests around the country and drawing global attention to the treatment of Afghan women.

Police arrested 49 people in connection with the attack, including 19 police officers, some of whom were shown standing by doing nothing to stop the lynching in cellphone videos recorded by bystanders.

In May a court sentenced four men to death and eight others were handed 16-year jail terms after a three-day trial broadcast live on national television.

The appeal was heard behind closed doors and reportedly reached a verdict on Wednesday, according to local media.

Farkhunda's brother Mujibullah told AFP the family had not been told of the court's decision or invited to the session.

Eleven Afghan policemen were also sentenced in May to one year in prison for failing to protect Farkhunda from the angry mob.

Farkhunda was attacked on the banks of the Kabul River after an amulet seller, whom she had reportedly castigated for peddling superstition, falsely accused her of burning a copy of the Quran.

Her case become a symbol of the endemic violence that women face in Afghanistan, despite reforms since the hardline Taliban regime fell in 2001.