BANGLADESH. SIX PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH IN TWO SEPARATE CASES

February 6, 2006: the Meherpur district court, Bangladesh, sentenced Rustam, Rahman and Enamul to death for the murder of a trader in Ghangni. Rahman and Enamul were convicted in absentia as hey had remained fugitive since the murder. According to the prosecution, 12 to 14 men went to the home of Yunus at the dead of night on November 9, 1998, with the intention of killing him. They fired several shots at his house, missing him, but were then sent fleeing after being chased by a mob of angry villagers.
The men threw bombs at the ensuing villagers, leaving one man badly wounded, who they then shot dead on the spot. Details as to the location of the incident or the reason behind the men’s intention to kill Yunus were unreported. In a separate case, the Satkhira district court sentenced three people to death and four others to life imprisonment for the murder of two policemen. Judge Osman Hyder pronounced the verdict in a crowded courtroom, handing down the death penalty to Raihanul Islam and Abed Ali of Bakal village and Zakir Hossain of Shukhrali village. According to the prosecution, constables Fazlul Haq and Motaleb of the Itagacha police department were murdered whilst on duty in the town on February 5, 2003. No further details were reported. (Sources: United News of Bangladesh Limited, 06/02/2006)