Bangladesh court sentences extremists to death for 2016 attack on foreigners
Brazen assault in July 2016 saw young men armed with assault rifles and machetes lay siege to the cafe in Dhaka
A special anti-terrorism tribunal delivered the verdict in a crowded courtroom in the capital Dhaka. PHOTO: AFP
DHAKA:
Seven extremists have been sentenced to death by a Bangladesh court over the savage 2016 attack of a Dhaka cafe popular with Westerners that killed 22 people including 18 foreigners.
The court said their aim was to destabilise the Muslim majority nation of 168 million people and turn it into a militant state.
"Seven of the accused have been convicted and sentenced to death. One accused has been acquitted," Dhaka's chief prosecutor Abdullah Abu told reporters.
The brazen assault in July 2016 saw young men armed with assault rifles and machetes lay siege to the cafe in Dhaka's well-heeled Gulshan neighbourhood.
Nine Italians and seven Japanese were among the foreigners to be hacked or shot dead. Two policemen were also killed.
Military commandos stormed the cafe after a 10-hour standoff and freed more than two dozen hostages.
The attack fuelled tensions over extremism in the country.
Bangladesh opposition stalwart jailed for threatening PM
The secular government launched a massive crackdown that saw more than 100 terrorists killed and nearly 1,000 others arrested.
All five militants were killed when the military stormed the cafe.
Eight others -- including mastermind Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, a Canadian of Bangladesh descent -- were killed during raids in Dhaka and its suburbs months after the attack.
The dead also included commanders of a new faction of the homegrown extremist group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh, which police blamed for most of the extremist attacks in the South Asian nation since the late 1990s.
The hostage crisis marked an escalation from a spate of murders claimed by the militant IS and al Qaeda of rights activists, gay people, foreigners and religious minorities. It was seen as a major blow to the country's image as a moderate nation.
Seven extremists have been sentenced to death by a Bangladesh court over the savage 2016 attack of a Dhaka cafe popular with Westerners that killed 22 people including 18 foreigners.
The court said their aim was to destabilise the Muslim majority nation of 168 million people and turn it into a militant state.
"Seven of the accused have been convicted and sentenced to death. One accused has been acquitted," Dhaka's chief prosecutor Abdullah Abu told reporters.
The brazen assault in July 2016 saw young men armed with assault rifles and machetes lay siege to the cafe in Dhaka's well-heeled Gulshan neighbourhood.
Nine Italians and seven Japanese were among the foreigners to be hacked or shot dead. Two policemen were also killed.
Military commandos stormed the cafe after a 10-hour standoff and freed more than two dozen hostages.
The attack fuelled tensions over extremism in the country.
Bangladesh opposition stalwart jailed for threatening PM
The secular government launched a massive crackdown that saw more than 100 terrorists killed and nearly 1,000 others arrested.
All five militants were killed when the military stormed the cafe.
Eight others -- including mastermind Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, a Canadian of Bangladesh descent -- were killed during raids in Dhaka and its suburbs months after the attack.
The dead also included commanders of a new faction of the homegrown extremist group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh, which police blamed for most of the extremist attacks in the South Asian nation since the late 1990s.
The hostage crisis marked an escalation from a spate of murders claimed by the militant IS and al Qaeda of rights activists, gay people, foreigners and religious minorities. It was seen as a major blow to the country's image as a moderate nation.