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Sheikh Mujib’s killers executed

Thursday, January 28, 2010
DHAKA: Bangladesh executed five convicted killers of independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Wednesday, officials at a Dhaka prison said.

Mujib and most of his family were killed in 1975 in a revolt by young army officers. One of his two surviving daughters, Sheikh Hasina, is now the country’s prime minister.

The executed ex-officers were identified as Major Bazlul Huda, Lieutenant Colonel Mohiuddin Ahmed, Lieutenant Colonel Syed Faruk Rahman, Lieutenant Colonel Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan and army lancer AKM Mohiuddin.

Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected appeals by the five convicted men against their death sentences, removing the last legal barrier to their execution. Within hours, legal and government officials told reporters outside Dhaka central prison the executions had been carried out.

“The executions have finally pulled the curtain down on one of history’s most gruesome killings,” chief state attorney Mahbube Alam said. Six other former officers convicted in their absence were never caught and another died abroad.

Nearly a thousand people gathered outside the prison in Old Dhaka. Dozens of ruling Awami League supporters were present, holding banners with slogans saying: “Justice at last” and “Do not bury them in Bangladeshi soil”.

Coffins for the five had been taken into the jail on Wednesday evening. The prison was surrounded by heavily armed Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) troops and police. The families of the convicts had been called during the day by the prison authorities. Mahsuza Pasha, sister of one of the convicts — Bazlul Huda — told media she had said goodbye to her brother, a former army officer.

“My brother is a martyr,” she said, adding “We haven’t been given justice. I was allowed to see my brother one last time today.” The trial of Mujib’s killers began only after Hasina was first elected prime minister in 1996. The process was slow because of legal complications and came to a halt after her rival, Begum Khaleda Zia, came to power in 2001.

After assuming office for a second term in January last year, Hasina vowed to complete the trial of those accused over her father’s death as soon as possible. She and her sister, Sheikh Rehana, survived the 1975 killings because they were abroad at the time. Their mother, three brothers and many relatives were killed.

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