International
oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P
Dhaka, Mar 23: Fourteen Islamists from a banned militant outfit were on Tuesday sentenced to death by a Bangladeshi court here for plotting to kill Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during an election rally in 2000.
Judge Abu Zafar Md Kamruzzaman of Dhaka’s Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 pronounced the verdict as nine of them were brought to the court from jail to face the trial in person. The rest five convicts are on the run. They were tried in absentia and defended by state-appointed lawyers.
The judge said that he believed that with exemplary punishments it is possible to stop the recurrence of such horrible and brutal incidents in the country. “The verdict will be executed by a firing squad to set an example, unless the law barred it,” the judge said.
Otherwise, the convicts, all operatives of outlawed Harkatul Jihad Bangladesh (HuJI-B), could be hanged in line with the…