Bangladesh Gives Death to 19 Over 2004 Grenade Attack
DHAKA (AFP) -- A Bangladesh court Wednesday sentenced 19 people to death over a 2004 grenade attack on the current prime minister, although a top opposition leader escaped with a life sentence.
The attack in Dhaka on a rally by Sheikh Hasina, at the time in the opposition and now prime minister, left her injured and killed 20 people.
Tarique Rahman, son of then-premier and Hasina's ally-turned-archrival Khaleda Zia, was among 49 people on trial, with Rahman charged with criminal conspiracy and multiple counts of murder.
Rahman, 50, was tried in absentia after he fled the country for London in 2008.
He now leads the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) from exile after Zia was jailed in February for five years for corruption.
"We thank God for the verdict," prosecutor Mosharraf Hussain told reporters amid tight security.
"We hoped that Tarique Rahman would get the death sentence," he said, adding the court observed that Rahman played a key role in the attack.
Hussain said two former ministers including a powerful ex-home minister and two former heads of the country's powerful intelligence agencies were among others handed the death sentence.
A total of 15 Islamist extremists from the banned Harkat-ul Jihad al Islami (HuJI), whose leader was executed in April last year, were also sentenced to death for planning and carrying out the attack.
Prosecutors said former BNP minister Abdus Salam Pintu colluded with HuJI and handed over grenades for the attack.
Hasina was addressing the rally when the grenades exploded and suffered severe injuries in one ear. Among the dead was the wife of a former president.
Four years later, Hasina stormed back to power after leading a secular coalition to a landslide victory in elections in December 2008.
Three extremists were also charged over the attack and later executed in a separate trial.
Home Minister Asaduzzman Khan said he was satisfied with the verdict, saying they got justice.
Rahman's lawyer Sanaullah Mia said the charges against his client were politically motivated.
The attack in Dhaka on a rally by Sheikh Hasina, at the time in the opposition and now prime minister, left her injured and killed 20 people.
Tarique Rahman, son of then-premier and Hasina's ally-turned-archrival Khaleda Zia, was among 49 people on trial, with Rahman charged with criminal conspiracy and multiple counts of murder.
Rahman, 50, was tried in absentia after he fled the country for London in 2008.
He now leads the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) from exile after Zia was jailed in February for five years for corruption.
"We thank God for the verdict," prosecutor Mosharraf Hussain told reporters amid tight security.
"We hoped that Tarique Rahman would get the death sentence," he said, adding the court observed that Rahman played a key role in the attack.
Hussain said two former ministers including a powerful ex-home minister and two former heads of the country's powerful intelligence agencies were among others handed the death sentence.
A total of 15 Islamist extremists from the banned Harkat-ul Jihad al Islami (HuJI), whose leader was executed in April last year, were also sentenced to death for planning and carrying out the attack.
Prosecutors said former BNP minister Abdus Salam Pintu colluded with HuJI and handed over grenades for the attack.
Hasina was addressing the rally when the grenades exploded and suffered severe injuries in one ear. Among the dead was the wife of a former president.
Four years later, Hasina stormed back to power after leading a secular coalition to a landslide victory in elections in December 2008.
Three extremists were also charged over the attack and later executed in a separate trial.
Home Minister Asaduzzman Khan said he was satisfied with the verdict, saying they got justice.
Rahman's lawyer Sanaullah Mia said the charges against his client were politically motivated.