ATC death sentences for double teen lynching

ISLAMABAD: An Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) sentenced to death seven men for brutally lynching two teenage brothers, a double murder captured in graphic video footage that triggered a public outcry, officials said Wednesday.

An anti-terrorism court in the city of Gujranwala, announced its verdict overnight after hearing the case for a year.

In August 2010, local television broadcast footage of a mob in the town of Sialkot beating two teenage boys with sticks and clubs as several policemen stood by and watched without taking action.

The boys' badly-damaged bodies were dragged on to a trailer and then thrown to the ground before being strung up on a nearby building, the footage apparently shot by mobile phone, showed.

The teenagers had apparently been branded thieves by the men after initially quarrelling over a game of cricket.

"The court has sentenced seven accused to death and announced life imprisonment for six others," defence lawyer Liaqat Ali Sandhu told AFP.

Court official Irfan Ali confirmed the verdict, adding that the six jailed for life were also each fined 300,000 rupees ($3,418).

Nine policemen were also jailed for three years for negligence, he added.

The defence lawyers vowed to appeal the sentences.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011