152 to walk gallows

"> A condemned BDR man wails while being taken out of a Dhaka court. He is among the 152 people who were handed down capital punishment yesterday for their role in the 2009 Pilkhana bloodbath. Photo: Amran Hossain
A Dhaka court yesterday awarded death penalty to 150 members of the erstwhile Bangladesh Rifles and two civilians for their role in the massacre of 74 people, including 57 army officers, at the BDR Pilkhana headquarters in 2009.
It also sentenced 161 others, including ex-BNP lawmaker Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu and ward-level Awami League leader Torab Ali, to life imprisonment for involvement in the carnage.
"I shuddered as I read the post-mortem reports. The killings were brutal; bodies were neither given their legal rights nor shown minimum respect," said Judge Md Akhtaruzzaman of the Third Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court while pronouncing the verdict in the biggest-ever criminal trial in the country's history.
The judge read out the summary of the over 4,000-page judgment in the presence of relatives of the slain army officers at the makeshift courtroom in the capital's Bakshibazar area.
On February 25-26 in 2009, the bloodbath at the Pilkhana headquarters of the paramilitary force that has been renamed Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) left the nation shaken to the core. It unnerved the Sheikh Hasina-led government that had assumed office barely a month back.

"> DAD Touhidul AlamThe condemned include sacked BDR deputy assistant director Touhidul Alam, who led a group of 14 BDR jawans to negotiations with the prime minister during the mutiny.
Of those sentenced to death, 12 are on the run.
The two civilians who are to walk gallows are Zakir Hossain and Md Nahid. BDR jawans prepared leaflets, containing their demands, from Zakir's Preem Coaching Centre near the Pilkhana headquarters.
The Daily Star, however, couldn't get any details about Nahid.
At least 78 jawans died under mysterious circumstances after the mutiny. Many of them reportedly died of heart attack in police custody while a few others committed suicide.
The court yesterday also handed down rigorous imprisonment, ranging from three to 10 years, to another 256 people, mostly BDR jawans, in the BDR carnage case filed with the Lalbagh Police Station on February 28, 2009.
They were also fined Tk 5,000 to Tk 50,000 for involvement in looting, trespass, hiding bodies and unlawful assembly.
The rest 277 accused were acquitted. However, none of them, except for a civilian, will be released from prison, as they are also accused in another case filed for looting and using explosives during the mutiny.
Legal experts said the sentencing of 152 people in a single case is unprecedented in the recent history of this subcontinent.
"After the sepoy revolution in 1857, a few thousand sepoys were hanged for mutiny during the British period. Since then, such sentencing has not been seen in this subcontinent," said noted jurist Shahdeen Malik.
The trial court will send the records and a copy of the verdict to the High Court in a week for deciding on the next course of action.
Those sentenced to life can challenge their convictions at the HC in the next 60 days. The condemned persons can also appeal against the verdict in seven days since receiving copies of the judgment.
The family members of the slain army officers said they would be satisfied only after the verdict is executed.

The court proceedings began around 12:30pm amid unprecedented security measures. A large number of police and Rab personnel were deployed in and around the court area.
The relatives of the accused were not allowed on the court premises on security grounds.
Before pronouncing the verdict, the judge urged the accused not to worry, and said, "Those who will be convicted will get the chance to appeal to higher courts, as this is not the final court."
It's a huge verdict and the judge preserves the right to make corrections to it, said Akhtaruzzaman.
He said most of the demands in the leaflet, circulated before the mutiny, were illogical and baseless; only a few were logical.
The judge also mentioned that there were several motives behind the Pilkhana massacre. One could be to destroy the morale of the army officials deputed to the BDR.
Of the 850 accused, 823 are BDR members and the rest are civilians. Four of accused died earlier in custody and 20 others are absconding.
The accused were brought to the court in prison vans from the Dhaka Central Jail between 7:00am and 10:00am.
As the judge pronounced the verdict, the acquitted ones burst into cheers. Some of them hugged each other.
But several convicts, shouted at the judge in anger, protesting their innocence.
One said, "I don't need a life term, hang me … hang me." Another yelled at the judge, "You will face Allah's trial."
The court adjourned twice while delivering the verdict. The judge said, "I prepared the verdict, taking ideas from the famous judgments of the cases over the assassinations of Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Bangabandhu."
Earlier, 17,306 BDR jawans faced trial in 11 special BDR courts and 60 summery trial courts of BDR commanding officers.
The 33-hour mutiny broke out after the then BDR Chief Major Gen Shakil Ahmed started a Darbar (Grand Conference) at the Darbar Hall in Pilkhana on February 25, 2009.
The mutineers looted the armoury and rampaged through the Pilkhana headquarters. Within hours, they killed most of the superior officers in and around the Darbar hall.
They tortured and bayoneted their superiors before killing them, and then dumped the bodies in sewers and mass graves to destroy evidence.
The mutineers also tortured the family members of their superiors and looted their houses. They also ransacked officers' quarters and set fire to vehicles.

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