Ahmed Rajib Haider, 35, was hacked to death by machete-wielding attackers in February 2013, in the first of a string of attacks targeting secular writers.
Advertisement
North Sea storm forces oil rig evacuations, kills worker
Evacuees are being flown ashore by Sea King helicopter from the Norwegian Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre. The Norwegian oil safety watchdog said that the barge could inflict severe damage if it hit the platform.
Special Trial Tribunal-3 Judge Sayeed Ahmed pronounced the verdict in presence of seven of the accused.
US accuses Iran of conducting missile test near warships
Ties between the countries have warmed in recent months with the signing of a deal over Iran’s nuclear programme. Raines said this incident was “uncharacteristic of most interactions” between the US and Iranian navies.
Foreigners and Shia Muslims have been killed in Bangladesh this year, in attacks claimed by ISIS.
Brutal Daily News editorial puts the Bill Cosby accusations into perspective
You know, frozen, paralyzed, unable to move. “I am aware of the statements from Bill Cosby”, Johnson said in a statement. So what’s changed? The current prosecutor, Kevin Steele , claims that they have new evidence to charge Cosby with.
Four secular bloggers and online activists, including a Bangladeshi-American, have been killed this year by suspected militants who denounced their writings criticising radical Islam.
The two men convicted of Haider’s death are university students – one of them is on the run and was sentenced in absentia.
Haider had led a popular movement against Islamist leaders accused of atrocities in Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence. A further five, including Mufti Jashimuddin Rahmani, a senior figure in the Ansarullah Bangla militant group, were given prison sentences.
Those attacks included a September 28 killing of an Italian national, an October 3 killing of a Japanese national and October 24 bombings against Shia Muslims in a religious procession, according to the State Department.
The police said what Rahman preached that killing of atheist bloggers who protest against Islam was legal. These people are self-declared killers of my son.
Defence lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kajal said that they would go to the higher court to challenge the sentence. His death was the first in a series of blogger killings in Bangladesh over the past few months. After his death, the country s Islamist parties began to protest against other campaigning bloggers, accusing them of blasphemy and calling for their execution.
Advertisement
The government also blocked about a dozen websites and blogs to stem the furore, as well as stepping up security for the bloggers.
