(Dhaka) A Bangladesh court on Wednesday sentenced 20 people to death for the 2019 murder of Abrar Fahad, a student who criticized the government on social media.
“Twenty people were sentenced to death and five others were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Abrar Fahad,” said prosecutor Abdullah Abu.
The body of the 21-year-old student was found in his dormitory at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in Dhaka in October 2019.
“I am happy with the verdict,” the father of the deceased, Barkat Ullah, told reporters in court after the verdict, “I hope the sentences will be carried out soon.”
The “disappointed” defense
Faruque Ahmed, a defense lawyer, said the conviction would be appealed.
“I am very disappointed with the verdict. It is not fair, ”he told AFP.
“They are young men, some of the best students in the country,” he said.
“They were sentenced to death when there is no real evidence against some of them,” said the lawyer.
For his part, Attorney General Mohammad Abu Abdullah Bhuiyuan told AFP that the murder of the young man was premeditated.
Three of the fugitives were tried in absentia and all the others were present in the courtroom.
Hours before his death, Abrar Fahad had posted criticism on Facebook against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who had just signed an agreement on territorial waters with India. His post quickly went viral.
Beaten to death
He was beaten with cricket bats and other blunt objects for six hours by 25 of his comrades, members of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), an academic branch of the ruling Awami League.
The individuals sentenced to death were between 20 and 22 years old at the material time.
The student’s murder shocked Bangladesh and highlighted the culture of violence in public universities.
A wave of protests ensued to demand justice and the banning of the BCL.
Mme Hasina then promised soon after that the killers would receive the “highest penalty”.
Abrar Fahad criticized the government for signing an agreement allowing India to draw water from a river bordering the two countries.
Surveillance video
In a surveillance video that toured social networks, he could be seen entering the dormitory with BCL activists.
About six hours later, his body was carried by the students and left on the ground.
The BCL has been talked about in recent years for the involvement of some of its members in cases of murders, acts of violence and extortion.
In 2018, BCL activists were widely implicated in the violent crackdown on a major anti-government student demonstration concerning road safety.
The death of a student hit by a fast-moving bus had angered the students. Unknown assailants wearing helmets, broke in and beat them.
Death sentences are frequent in Bangladesh and hundreds of people are on death row.
All executions are carried out by hanging, a legacy of the British colonial era.
In August, a court sentenced six Islamist extremists to death for the murders of two gay rights activists.
Sixteen people were sentenced to death in 2019 for burning alive a 19-year-old student who accused the director of her seminar of sexual harassment.