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February 28, 2006
Bangladesh: 22 JMB Islamists To Hang
News from Bangladesh's Daily Star states that 21 individuals who belong to the Islamist terror group Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) have been convicted of involvement in a nationwide campaign of bombings, which took place on August 17, 2005.
Another individual has been separately sentenced to death for the killing of a judge in Sylhet, a district in the northeast of the country..
On August 17, more than 400 bombs were set off in 63 of the nation's 64 districts, and injured more than 100 people. The bombs also killed a 40-year old man from Chapainawabganj an eight year old boy from Savar, called Abdus Salam. At the scene of every bomb blast, there were found leaflets, demanding the institution of a sharia state in Bangladesh.
A court in Jhenidah, which lies on the western border with the Indian state of West Bengal sentenced the 21 men to hang, after they had been found guilty of setting off six bombs in the district of Jhenidah on August 17. The judicial court premises where they were sentenced today were also hit in the bomb attacks. An eight year old boy named Russell was injured in the Jenidah attacks.
Only 18 of the 21 individuals appeared in court to hear their sentences, and three who remain at large were tried and convicted in absentia. The 21 people are all young, aged between 20 and 25.
A further four people were acquitted. Depositions were heard from 42 people during the Jhenidah trial.
The New Nation also gives details of the court case in Sylhet.
Sylhet Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal Judge Biplob Goshwami on 18 October last year, when a bomb was thrown at him, leaving him injured in his legs. The man who threw the bomb at the judge was attacked by pedestrians, who beat the man and requiring him to be hospitalised. Judge Goshwani had been attacked while returning to his home in Kumarpara, Sylhet city. The same day, Judge Goshwani delivered a verdict of a life sentence upon a murderer and "freedom fighter" Siddique Ali, stated the Bangladesh Independent at the time.
The injured bomber was taken to Osmani Medical College and Hospital from his jail as his condition deteriorated following the attack. The bomber, Akhter Hossain, as we reported earlier confessed from his hospital bed that Sheikh Abdur Rahman, head of JMB, had offered him a sum of money as an inducement to hurl his bomb at the judge. The current edition of the Star and New Nation state the JMB bomber's name as Akhtaruzzaman, who lived in Sarishabari upazila (parish) in the district of Jamalpur, in the north central region of Bangladesh.
In addition to his death sentence, the bomber was given 10 years "rigorous imprisonment" for throwing a second bomb, with another 20 years similar jail for possessing another live bomb and a fine of 50,000 Taka, which by default becomes an extra year's jail.
Four other individuals who were charged with Akhtaruzzaman were acquitted for lack of evidence.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at February 28, 2006 6:14 PM
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