A court Bangladesh sentenced 10 people to death for...

A court Bangladesh sentenced 10 people to death for shooting dead five politicians at a 1999 political rally, which has been scarred by years of political violence. Twelve others were given life imprisonment by the court in the western city of Kushtia. The accused were convicted of gunning down Kazi Aref Ahmed, president of the Jatiya Samjtanrik Dal communist party, and four of his colleagues at a party rally on February 16, 1999. The prosecution said the convicts belonged to a leftist extremist party, Gano Bahini, blamed for scores of shooting deaths in lawless areas of western Bangladesh. The Jatiya Samjtanrik Dal communist party hailed the verdict. "We believe this judgement will play a vital role in terms of (helping stop) political killings in Bangladesh," party president Hasannul Haque Inu said. Political violence, military coups and bombings have studded the history of Bangladesh, formerly east Pakistan, which became a nation in 1971.