By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

DHAKA, Bangladesh –

Two Bangladeshi students, Faisal bin Nayem and Rezwanul Azad Rana, were sentenced to death last week for the murder of atheist blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in 2013. Mr. Rana, who is believed to be the mastermind behind the attack on Mr. Haider, is currently on the run and was sentenced in absentia.

Mr. Haider was hacked to death with a machete while returning home from a public rally in 2013. Mr. Haider was known to be critical of the Islamist political party Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh. He was also one of several bloggers who called for the execution of Islamist leaders who committed war crimes in the 1971 conflict leading to Bangladesh’s founding.

Six others have received prison sentences for their involvement in Mr. Haider’s murder. Jasimuddin Rahmani, the head of Islamist extremist group Ansarullah Bangla Team, received a five year sentence. Ansarullah Bangla Team, which is a banned group in Bangladesh, has taken full responsibility for the killing of Mr. Haider.

The defendants’ defense lawyer, Mosharraf Hossain Kajal, plans on challenging the sentences in a higher court, stating that the prosecution failed to prove the allegations against his clients. Mahbubur Rahman, a state prosecutor, states that the evidence gathered helped to prove the charges against the accused beyond reasonable doubt. Mr. Rahman also plans on appealing the verdict because he expected at least five of the accused to receive the death penalty.

Four other atheist bloggers who spoke out about Islamic extremism in Bangladesh were also killed in 2015, along with a publisher. Bangladesh’s government has been criticized over the past year for failing to adequately protect writers and activists.

Anisul Huq, Bangladesh’s Law and Justice Minister, has stated that investigators are working to bring those responsible for attacks on other bloggers to justice. The convictions handed down in Mr. Haider’s case mark a positive step toward confronting the increasing violence toward bloggers in Bangladesh.

 

For more information, please see:

CNN – Bangladesh Court Hands Down Death Sentences for Blogger Killing – 1 January 2015

Time – Students Who Killed Atheist Bangladeshi Writer Sentenced to Death – 1 January 2015

Al Jazeera – Two Sentenced to Death for Murdering Bangladeshi Blogger – 31 December 2015

New York Times – 2 Sentenced to Death in Killing of Bangladeshi Activist in 2013 – 31 December 2015