One of the most important capital case is the trial...

One of the most important capital case is the trial of those accused of involvement in Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's assassination that began in March 1997. Mujibur and most of his family were killed in the August 15, 1975, coup but the trial of the ex-officers was ordered only after his daughter, Sheikh Hasina, became prime minister in 1996. On November 8, 1998, after an 18-month trial, Dhaka District and Sessions Judge Kazi Golam Rasul imposed death sentences on 15 ex-army officers. Eleven of the 15 were tried in absentia and police said only four were now in custody. Another 11 are believed to be abroad, and Sheikh Hasina has asked the United States and other countries to return them to Bangladesh. The High Court's review of the death sentences was still pending at the end of 1999.