Holey Artisan Attack: HC commutes death sentence of 7 militants

The High Court yesterday commuted the death sentence of seven jailed militants to imprisonment until death in the Holey Artisan attack case.

The bench of Justice Shahidul Karim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman delivered the verdict after rejecting separate appeals filed by the convicts challenging the lower court verdict.

The HC reduced the punishment finding that the tribunal had incorrectly applied a section of the Anti-Terrorism Act-2009 to hand down death penalties to the convicts, said prosecution and defence lawyers.

The judgment came more than seven years after the café siege that left 20 people dead, mostly foreigners, in July 2016.

The grisly attack followed a spate of targeted killings of bloggers, writers, members of religious minorities, and foreigners over several years.

After the siege, which drew global condemnation, law enforcers launched a massive crackdown on terror networks.

On July 1, 2016, five militants with firearms, machetes, and grenades stormed the upscale eatery in Gulshan's diplomatic zone and held the diners hostage before killing three Bangladeshis, seven Japanese, nine Italians, and an Indian.

The militants were killed during a rescue operation by army commandos. Two police officials and a chef of the café also died during the 12-hour standoff.

On November 27, 2019, the Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal in Dhaka convicted and sentenced seven militants to death for their involvement in the attack.

The convicts are Jahangir Hossain, Aslam Hossain Rash, Hadisur Rahman, Rakibul Hasan Regan, Md Abdus Sabur Khan, Shariful Islam Khaled, and Mamunur Rashid Ripon.

Yesterday, the HC bench read out the verdict summary.

Amimul Ehsan Zubayer, a defence counsel, said the tribunal had given punishment to the seven under a section of the Anti-Terrorism Act-2009, which is supposed to be applied against the offenders directly involved in the offence.

But those who directly took part in the attack were killed during the army operation, said Zubayer, a lawyer for convict Shariful.

But none of the seven convicts were present during the attack and charges pressed against them were provoking and abetting those who directly took part in the cafe attack, he said, adding that the highest punishment for the crimes punishable under this particular law is life sentence.

"The lower court [tribunal] handed down punishment following an incorrectly applied section. So, the High Court corrected the previous verdict," the lawyer told reporters.

Deputy Attorney General Bashir Ahmed also said that failing to understand a sub-section of the Anti-Terrorism Act, the tribunal gave death sentences to the convicts, and that's why the HC changed it.

Asked why the HC gave them jail sentences until death when the law stipulates life sentence as the highest punishment for the offences the convicts committed, Bashir said 20 people, from home and abroad, and two police officials were brutally killed, which tarnished the country's image abroad and hampered public safety seriously, so the court handed down jail sentences until death, citing a previous verdict.

Replying to a query, he said the decision on whether they would challenge the verdict would be made after talking to the authorities concerned.

Lawyer Zubayer said, "I'm not happy with the verdict. However, my client is yet to communicate with me if he would challenge it."