Bangladeshi court sentences soldiers to death in mass trial

DHAKA. – A Bangladeshi court sentenced more than 150 soldiers to death and jailed hundreds more yesterday, following a mass trial over a 2009 mutiny in which scores of top officers were massacred.
Some 823 soldiers plus 23 civilians appeared in a special court charged with murder, torture and other offences over the mutiny, in which 74 people were shot, hacked to death or burnt alive before their bodies were dumped in sewers or shallow graves.

A judge passed the death penalty on 152 of the soldiers, who looted weapons and led the killing spree partly in anger that their long standing pleas for better pay and treatment were ignored.

Another 161 soldiers plus some civilians were sentenced to life in prison while 262 defendants were jailed for up to 10 years, over the uprising that started at the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters in Dhaka and spread to other BDR bases. The uprising briefly threatened the newly elected government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a country with a history of military-backed coups. Executions by hanging are regularly carried out in Bangladesh. Lawyers for the soldiers on death row said they will appeal.

The judge acquitted another 271 people, prompting chaotic scenes in the court. Many cheered and cried out “Allahu Akbar!” (God is great). Several of those convicted screamed at the judge in anger, with one soldier crying out: “I am innocent. You will face Allah’s wrath.”
Nearly 6 000 BDR soldiers, a paramilitary corps responsible for patrolling the nation’s borders, have already been convicted by dozens of special courts over the mutiny, whose victims included 54 top officers. The 823 soldiers were singled out for prosecution in a civilian court for leading the mutiny at BDR headquarters, after earlier being found guilty in military courts.

Lead prosecutor Baharul Islam said the case was the largest of its type in the world, with hundreds of witnesses called for the trial that started in January 2011 and finished in October this year. But rights groups have criticised the hearing, saying it was simply too large to deliver justice.

“Trying hundreds of people en masse in one giant courtroom, where the accused have little or no access to lawyers, is an affront to international legal standards,” Human Rights Watch said last week. – AFP.