Bangladesh court upholds death sentence for militant leader, two followers

Bangladesh’s top court has upheld the death penalty handed down to a militant leader and two of his followers for a grenade attack on the UK’s former envoy to the country.

The Bangladeshi Supreme Court dismissed the appeals by Mufti Abdul Hannan, the head of an extremist militant group, and two of its members on Wednesday.

The three were convicted in 2008 of murder and masterminding a grenade attack on the then-high commissioner of the UK at a Sufi shrine in the northeastern city of Sylhet in 2004. The diplomat, Anwar Choudhury, was injured along with 70 other people. Three worshipers were killed.

They could now be hanged within months unless they seek a review of the verdict. Their defense lawyers have said they expect their clients to appeal. “We think we’ll seek a review of the verdict. But it depends on the decision of the three,” said Mohammad Ali, a lawyer for the trio.

Deputy Attorney General Sheikh Monirzzaman Kabir has said Hannan “masterminded a series of deadly attacks in the late 1990s until his arrest (in 2005).”

He was also being tried for another grenade attack, in August 2004, on a rally being held by the then-opposition leader and current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hasina was injured but more than 20 people were killed in the blast.

The group he heads has been accused of a series of deadly attacks in Bangladesh as well as India.

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