REPORTs in a national daily on Friday said that many acquitted in the BDR mutiny cases were not set free and languishing in jail for more than seven years. The government has implicated many acquitted persons in new cases under explosive act while others were denied bail without any ground. They don’t know when they will be set free.
The saga of the BDR mutiny in 2009 in which 57 army officers were brutally massacred and their families vandalized in the city’s Pilkhana headquarters of the border forces now renamed Border Guard in an overnight carnage. On November 5, 2013, a Dhaka court awarded death sentence to 150 BDR members and two civilians, and life imprisonment to 160 for their roles in the carnage. The court handed down rigorous imprisonment to 256 people, mostly BDR soldiers. It also acquitted 278 others but the government later appealed against 69.
The High Court started taking hearing on the death reference and appeals from the convicts in January 2015 and in November confirmed death penalty of 139 and upheld life sentences of 185 and 10 years to 256. It also acquitted 200 accused but seven years went by in the meantime many of them are languishing in jail. Defense lawyers say proceedings on explosive cases may take at least 10 years but neither the defense nor the state could file appeal with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court challenging the HC verdict as they were yet to get the certified copy of the judgment. As a result, 456 accused — including 200 acquitted — remain stuck in jail.
We are appalled by our justice system for lack of speedy action to give relief to victims. One can’t understand why the government would not set free those acquitted by the court and why the relevant court is holding back or inordinately delaying certified copies blocking to file appeal at the Supreme Court. To speak the truth it is not still clear why the BDR mutiny had taken place and whether the government role was transparent. There are many conspiracy theories about it. One may only wonder if the government fears that the release of the acquitted may unveil the dark side of the trials by which the government may have attempted to cover up its guilt.
The saga of the BDR mutiny in 2009 in which 57 army officers were brutally massacred and their families vandalized in the city’s Pilkhana headquarters of the border forces now renamed Border Guard in an overnight carnage. On November 5, 2013, a Dhaka court awarded death sentence to 150 BDR members and two civilians, and life imprisonment to 160 for their roles in the carnage. The court handed down rigorous imprisonment to 256 people, mostly BDR soldiers. It also acquitted 278 others but the government later appealed against 69.
The High Court started taking hearing on the death reference and appeals from the convicts in January 2015 and in November confirmed death penalty of 139 and upheld life sentences of 185 and 10 years to 256. It also acquitted 200 accused but seven years went by in the meantime many of them are languishing in jail. Defense lawyers say proceedings on explosive cases may take at least 10 years but neither the defense nor the state could file appeal with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court challenging the HC verdict as they were yet to get the certified copy of the judgment. As a result, 456 accused — including 200 acquitted — remain stuck in jail.
We are appalled by our justice system for lack of speedy action to give relief to victims. One can’t understand why the government would not set free those acquitted by the court and why the relevant court is holding back or inordinately delaying certified copies blocking to file appeal at the Supreme Court. To speak the truth it is not still clear why the BDR mutiny had taken place and whether the government role was transparent. There are many conspiracy theories about it. One may only wonder if the government fears that the release of the acquitted may unveil the dark side of the trials by which the government may have attempted to cover up its guilt.
