On Sunday death sentences of 20 former university students convicted of killing a fellow student in 2019 who had insulted the former administration of Bangladesh on social media, a court in Bangladesh upheld.
Hours after posting a Facebook post denouncing the former administration of Sheikh Hasina for negotiating a water-sharing treaty with India, 21-year-old student of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) was assassinated.
25 students, all members of the Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of previous prime minister’s political party, the Awami League, beat Fahad for almost six hours with cricket bats.
Before Hasina was expelled last year following a student-led revolt, the student wing was accused of instilling a reign of terror on university campuses.
“I am content.” After the court decided on Sunday, Barkat Ullah, the father of Fahad, told reporters that he hoped the legal processes would be finished shortly and justice would be delivered.
“Although they engaged in unethical politics, I do not wish to criticise the parents who sent their boys to the top institution. I would advise others to avoid engaging in dangerous pursuits, he said.
The assassination of Fahad set up national demonstrations that compelled Hasina to promise the worst sentence for the offenders. Attorney General Md Asaduzza man informed reporters that the decision will be executed according to legal procedures.
“The High Court maintained the lower court verdict that handed down death sentences to 20 and life imprisonment to five,” Asaduzzaman added.
“The convicts will have all the rights ensured by the court and be let to appeal against the verdict.” Among the group’s defence attorneys, Syed Mizanur Rahman remarked, “We will appeal against the verdict.” Four of the twenty death-sentenced offenders are still on run.
On August 6, one of them—Muntasir Al Jamie—who was found guilty of Faha’s murder burst through the prison wall of a high security facility.
With hundreds of prisoners presently on death row, death sentences are somewhat regular in Bangladesh. A vestige of British colonial control, hanging is used in all executions.
