39 to hang for murder of Bangladesh party leader
DHAKA: A Bangladesh court yesterday sentenced dozens of men to death for the brazen daylight murder of a ruling party official in 2014, officials said.
Ekramul Haque, the then Awami League leader in eastern Feni district, was dragged from his vehicle by a mob and hacked with machetes before being shot at point blank range.
The 47-year-old was then placed back inside his vehicle, which was then set on fire. A number of those travelling with the local party leader were injured in the brutal assault.
Court inspector Nojibul Islam told AFP that a judge in Feni district sentenced 39 men to death by hanging for the crime. Sixteen others were acquitted.
“We will go to appeal in the higher court against the order,” said defence lawyer Rana Das Gupta.
Police pressed charges against 56 people in August the same year. The court had indicted them in March 2016.
A total of 44 arrests were made over the years and 15 of them confessed in court.
Bangladesh has a history of delivering death sentences in mass trials.
In November, a court upheld death sentences against 139 soldiers for the grisly murders of dozens of senior army officers in a 2009 mutiny.
Last August, 10 Islamist militants were sentenced to death over a failed plot to assassinate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.