A Mauritanian appeals court on Thursday reduced the death penalty for a blogger accused of blasphemy to a two-year jail term, a legal source said, after a case that had drawn protests from rights watchdogs.

Cheikh Ould Mohamed Ould Mkheitir, who will be released as he has been in custody since 2014, was also fined 60,000 ouguiyas (146 euros, $169) by the court in northwestern Nouadhibou, the source said.