Bangladesh sentences hundreds to death, life in prison in mutiny verdict

A Bangladeshi court sentenced 152 soldiers to death Tuesday over a 2009 military mutiny in which scores of officers were massacred. Human rights groups have criticized the mass trial, saying it does not meet international legal standards.

At a special court in the capital Dhaka on Tuesday, Judge Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman sentenced another 157 people, mostly border guards, to life in prison for their role in the 30-hour mutiny, while 271 soldiers were acquitted.

"The atrocities were so heinous that even the dead bodies were not given their rights," Akhtaruzzaman said as he started to read out the verdicts.

Up to 823 soldiers allegedly took part in the killing of 74 people, who were hacked to death or tortured and burned alive, then dumped in sewers and shallow graves.

Security was tight at the specially-built court in Dhaka, with police and elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) officers deployed outside, before the verdict's announcement.

Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for many of the 823 soldiers charged with murder, torture, conspiracy and other offenses over the  uprising that started at the paramilitary Bangladeshi Rifles (BDR) headquarters in Dhaka.

Nearly 6,000 soldiers already have been jailed by dozens of special courts over the mutiny that spread to other BDR bases around the country.

The 823 soldiers were singled out for prosecution in a civilian court after they were found guilty in military courts over their role in the mutiny.

Twenty-three civilians have also been charged with criminal conspiracy.

Baharul Islam, the lead prosecutor, said the case was the largest of its type in the world, with hundreds of witnesses taking part in the trial that started in January 2011 and finished in October this year.

"So far as we know it's the largest case in the world's history. There were 654 prosecution witnesses," Islam said before the verdict.

The verdict was delayed last week after the judge said he needed more time to finish writing it.

During the uprising, the mutineers stole an estimated 2,500 weapons and broke into an annual meeting of top BDR officers before shooting them at point blank range.

As the mutiny spread, it briefly threatened the new government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, which had been elected only one month previously.

The cause of the violence is uncertain, but pent-up anger over poor benefits and resentment by soldiers against BDR senior officers is widely seen as the main factor.

New York-based Human Rights Watch last week criticized the Bangladesh authorities for the mass trial, saying it would not ensure justice.

The group says the violations of fair trials standards include torture and other abuse while in custody in order to extract confessions and statements.

It says at least 47 suspects have died in custody, while the suspects have had limited access to lawyers and to knowledge of the charges and evidence against them.

"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," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement on Oct. 29.

Wire services