The full verdict of the High Court has been published in the much-discussed and brutal murder case involving the terrosist attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan, Dhaka.
The High Court commuted the death sentences handed down by the trial court to life imprisonment for seven convicts.
On Tuesday, the 229-page verdict was published on the Supreme Court’s official website.
On October 30, 2023, the High Court bench comprising Justice Shahidul Karim and Justice Md. Mostafizur Rahman delivered the verdict, rejecting the convicts' appeals, jail appeals, and the death reference (approval of the death sentences). The court announced the verdict in Bengali.
Deputy Attorney General Bashir Ahmed represented the state during the hearings. Advocates Ariful Islam and Amimul Ehsan represented the convicts, and the state-appointed defense counsel for the accused was S.M. Shafiqul Islam.
On the night of July 1, 2016, members of the banned militant outfit Neo-JMB (suicide squad) attacked the Holey Artisan restaurant in Gulshan, killing 20 people, including foreign nationals. Two police officers were also killed in the attack. Later, five militants were killed in a commando operation.
In the trial of this case, on November 27, 2019, Judge Md Mojibur Rahman of Dhaka's Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal sentenced seven individuals to death and acquitted one.
The seven convicts are Jahangir Hossain, Aslam Hossain Rash, Hadisur Rahman, Rakibul Hasan Regan, Md Abdus Sabur Khan, Shariful Islam Khaled, and Mamunur Rashid Ripon.
Mizanur Rahman alias Boro Mizan was acquitted.
In criminal cases, when the trial court sentences someone to death, the verdict must be approved by the High Court. Therefore, the trial court sends all related documents to the High Court under Section 374 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a process known as a “death reference.”
After receiving the case files, the Death Reference Branch of the High Court examines and prepares the paper book. Once a bench is designated, the hearing begins.
This terrorist attack remains one of the most gruesome in the country’s history, where nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi-American dual citizen, and two Bangladeshis were killed. Additionally, Banani Police Station’s Officer-in-Charge Salahuddin Ahmed and Assistant Police Commissioner Rabiul Islam were killed by grenade attacks from the militants.
Five attackers—Meer Saameh Mobasher, Rohan Ibn Imtiaz alias Mamun, Nibras Islam, Khairul Islam Payel, and Shafiqul Islam Ujjal—were killed in the commando operation to end the hostage situation.
In addition, eight more members of Neo-JMB were killed in separate law enforcement operations over time, and the charges against them were dropped. North South University professor Abul Hasnat Reza Karim was also cleared due to lack of evidence.
The case was filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act at Gulshan Police Station by Sub-Inspector Ripon Kumar Das. The investigation was conducted by Inspector Humayun Kabir of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit, who submitted the charge sheet to the court on July 1, 2018.
Bd-pratidin English/ ANI
