BANGLADESH: COURT HANDS DOWN DEATH PENALTY TO 18 PEOPLE

in Bangladesh, Additional district and sessions judge Abdur Rahim Mridha sentenced 18 people to death for killing three people in local polls in 1989 in northeastern Sunamganj. Four people were sentenced in absentia. A police official said all were released following a previous trial in 2003, but the High Court ordered a retrial. Bangladesh applies the death penalty for such crimes as murder, sedition and drug-trafficking. At least 6 people were sent to gallows in 2007 and at least five in 2008; three people were executed in 2009.
On December 18, 2008 Bangladesh voted against the Resolution on a Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty at the UN General Assembly.