BANGLADESH. COURT STAYS EXECUTION OF MILITANTS

October 1, 2006: Bangladesh's Supreme Court ordered a stay of execution for seven Islamist militants sentenced to death for bomb attacks that killed at least 30 people in 2005, said Fazlul Karim, secretary of the Supreme Court.
The militants included Shayek Abdur Rahman and Siddikul Islam Bangla Bhai, heads of two outlawed Islamist groups seeking the introduction of sharia-based Islamic law in Bangladesh, a mainly Muslim democracy. The two, who head the groups Jamaat-ul Mujahideen and Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, had appealed for clemency on September 29. Their petition is due to be heard on October 15 and execution has been suspended until its settlement, said Fazlul Karim, secretary of the Supreme Court.
A court sentenced the seven militants to death for killing two judges in the coastal town of Jhalakathi in November 2005. Bombs wrecked the judges' car as they headed to court. In bomb attacks between August and December 2005, the militants killed at least 30 people and wounded 150. Victims included lawyers, judges, police, officials and journalists. Six of the convicts are in jail but one is absconding and was tried in absentia, police said. (Sources: Reuters, 01/10/2006)