Bangladesh - Eight activists of the Awami League were awarded death penalty

Eight activists of the Awami League were awarded death penalty and 13 others were given life terms by a Dhaka court for the murder of a young man during an opposition enforced blockade last year. "They will be hanged to death until they are dead," pronounced Speedy Trial Tribunal-4 judge ABM Nizamul Haque at the packed courtroom as six convicts appeared in the dock. Two other death penalty convicts and 11 of the 13, who were awarded the life term, were tried in absentia as they were on the run to evade the justice. The Chhatra League activists hacked to death 24-year-old Biswajit Das, in Old Dhaka's Bahadur Shah Park area on December 9 last year during the opposition enforced blockade. Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) is the student front of the Awami League. The murder drew flak on the then ruling Awami League.