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Bangladesh sentences seven to death for 2016 cafe attack

27 November 2019 13:21 (UTC +04:00)

A Bangladesh court handed death sentences to seven members of an Islamist militant group on Wednesday for plotting an attack on a cafe in 2016 that killed 22 people, mostly foreigners, in the south Asian nation’s worst such incident, APA reports citing Reuters.

“Charges against them were proved beyond any doubt. The court gave them the highest punishment,” public prosecutor Golam Sarwar Khan told reporters after the verdict, amid tight security at the court in the capital, Dhaka.

One of the eight accused was acquitted, he added.

A defense lawyer said the convicted men would appeal.

After the ruling, they shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is Greatest) and “We did nothing wrong” from the dock to a packed courtroom, witnesses said. Two wore prayer caps bearing the insignia of Islamic State.

The July 1 attack on the restaurant popular with foreigners in Dhaka’s diplomatic area shocked the nation of 160 million and unnerved businesses, including the vital garment exports sector, and foreign investors.