11 police officers jailed in death of Afghan woman

KABUL, Afghanistan, May 19 (UPI) -- Eleven Kabul, Afghanistan, police officers were sentenced Tuesday to a year in jail for failing to stop the killing of a woman by a mob in March.

The 27-year-old woman, known as Farkhunda, was beaten and dragged through the street before being set on fire, falsely accused of destroying a copy of the Koran. Four men were sentenced to death earlier in May for their role in the attack, and eight others sentenced to jail. The case led to angry protests, in Afghanistan and around the world, against religious extremism and treatment of women.

Nineteen police officers were tried, and eight were acquitted because of lack of evidence.

Evidence showed Farkhunda had argued with an amulet salesman near Kabul's Shah-Du-Shamshaira shrine, near the city's presidential palace. During the argument, she was accused of burning a Koran, a false claim overheard by the crowd outside the shrine. Then she was attacked.

The salesman was among those sentenced to death.

An investigator said there was no evidence the woman defaced a Koran.

The case has brought Afghan justice to the world's attention. The trial of those accused of killing Farkhunda was swift. Judge Safiullah Mojaddidi took longer to adjudicate the case against the police officers.