Belgian soldiers freed over Somali torture

A military appeals court in Brussels has acquitted two Belgian soldiers accused of torture during the 1993 United Nations operation in Somalia.

The two men, were accused of tying up a Somali man on top of a fire as if to roast him, in the town of Kismayo.

The victim suffered severe injuries but the soldiers said it was only a game.

They were acquitted of the charges in June but the military prosecutor and human rights groups protested and took the case to the appeals court, which has now freed them.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service