152 Bangladesh Border Guards Sentenced To Death, Human Rights Group Demands New Trial

A Bangladesh court sentenced 152 border guards, who killed dozens of military commanders in 2009, to the death penalty on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

During a brutal two-day uprising on Feb. 25, 2009, in the Dhaka compound, border police rebelled and killed over 70 people after taking control of the border headquarters and demanded better working conditions, according to the New York Times.

The sentences came after a mass trial, which human rights groups deem non-credible, involving 846 defendants; 47 others died waiting for trial, according to the AP. During the time of the uprising, the border guards were known as the Bangladesh Rifles. The guards claim to have rebelled due to poor salaries and working conditions, the AP reported.

The guards demanded salaries similar to those of their commanders in the army, who worked on United Nation peace missions and came with better perks and facilities.

The Dhaka compound where the 2009 mutiny broke out is described as an oasis inside the city complete with its own rose garden and a small zoo, the AP reported. During an annual conference on the compound, guards took commanders and officers of the Bangladesh army hostage.

After 33 hours, army tanks surrounded the headquarters in the city's capital, ending the uprising. Many of the guards discarded their uniforms and fled the location, the Times reported.

When authorities entered the buildings, they found a mass grave of bodies containing 74 people, 57 of which were top-to-mid ranking officials, according to the Times. Corpses were also found stuffed inside manholes.

Many of the guards broke down crying and yelling after Judge Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman released the sentence on Tuesday, with many guards yelling "Allah will deliver justice of this injustice," the Times reported. According to the Judge, witness testimony of the uprising was "hair-raising."

"The slain people were not merely killed," Akhtaruzzaman said, according to the Times. "The dead bodies did not get the respect they deserve according to the law." 

Beside the guards who were sentenced to death, 161 suspects were sentenced to life in prison and 256 received prison terms between three and 10 years; 227 of the prisoners were acquitted, the AP reported. The defense said they will appeal.

In Bangladesh the death penalty is a common sentence for crimes such as murder, but a New York-based Human Rights Watch has publicly criticized the proceedings, the AP reported.

In a statement released on Oct. 29, the group demands a new trial after 47 of the prisoners died in custody and suspects had little access to lawyers, stating "violations of fair trials standards include torture and other abuse while in custody."

The statement also said "family members of detainees and local media raised serious allegations of torture and custodial deaths. Detainees were subjected to beatings, often on the soles of their feet or palms of their hands, and to electric shocks."

"Trying hundreds of people en masse in one giant courtroom, where the accused have little or no access to lawyers is an affront to international legal standards," Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in the statement.