‘They had a single goal’
Capital punishment sought for all 8 accused in Holey Artisan attack case
The prosecution yesterday sought capital punishment for all eight accused in the Holey Artisan cafe attack case, after completing arguments.
Advocate Golam Sharuar Khan, assistant public prosecutor, told the court that all the accused were involved in the attack in some way.
“They had a single goal. Some provided arms, grenades, bombs or money to carry out the attack. Some were trainers or recruiters [of the attackers] while some formulated the plan,” he said.
All the accused should be given the highest punishment for their crimes, the APP added.
Afterwards, Advocate Delowar Hossain, a defence lawyer, started his arguments in favour of accused Rakibul Hasan Rigan.
Judge Majibur Rahman of the Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal of Dhaka heard the arguments. The tribunal then set November 13 for hearing remaining arguments.
During the hearing, eight accused, now in jail, were produced before the tribunal.
On October 30, they claimed innocence and demanded justice after the judge read out charges from statements of 113 witnesses.
On July 1, 2016, armed militants stormed the Gulshan cafe and killed 20 hostages, mostly foreign nationals. Two police officials were also killed during the 12-hour standoff.
On July 23 last year, police submitted the charge sheet to the chief metropolitan magistrate of Dhaka, accusing eight people. On November 26 the same year, the tribunal framed charges against the eight.