High Court verdict on BDR mutiny Sunday

The High Court will deliver its verdict tomorrow on defence and prosecution appeals against the lower-court verdict in a case filed over a bloody BDR mutiny at Peelkhana in the capital in 2009.

A three-member HC special bench headed by Justice Md Shawkat Hossain is set to start announcing the judgement at 10:30am. Other two judges are Justice Md Abu Zafor Siddique and Justice Nazrul Islam Talukder.

On April 13, the same bench had kept the reference and appeals as curia advisari vult, a Latin legal term meaning the verdict could be delivered anytime.

On November 5, 2013, a Dhaka court sentenced 152 persons, including 150 BDR members, to death and 161 others to life imprisonment for their involvement in the carnage.

The court also awarded 256 people, mostly BDR soldiers, rigorous imprisonment for a period ranging from three to 10 years.

However, the remaining 277 accused in the case were acquitted.

A total of 846 people, 823 of them BDR personnel, were brought to justice.

The soldiers resorted to the mutiny on February 25-26, killing 74 people, including 57 army officers.

After the carnage, the paramilitary force was renamed Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).

Many alleged a deep-rooted conspiracy was hatched to topple Awami League-led government by instigating common soldiers to kill army officers.

After gunning down the BDR DG, the soldiers burnt his wife to death. Besides, family members of many officers were tortured and their valuables looted or damaged.

During the appeal hearing, the prosecution prayed to the HC to uphold death sentences of 152 convicts awarded by the lower court while the defence sought their acquittal.

The HC rejected three state appeals for exemplary punishment for over one hundred others who were given various terms of imprisonment or acquitted.

In another development, the state filed an appeal with the High Court on 7 May 2014, seeking punishment for 69 accused who were acquitted in the 2009 BDR mutiny case. The appeal was filed on.

The trial court cleared 277 accused of the charges. Appeals were not filed against 208 others who were let off due to lack of substantial evidence.

Source: dailysun