A Dhaka court on Wednesday sentenced four militants to death in a case filed over the sensational murder of eminent author and Dhaka University (DU) teacher Prof Humayun Azad.
Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Al-Mamun handed down the verdict.
The convicts are -- Nur Mohammad, Salehin Sani alias Salahuddin, Anwarul Alam alias Anwar and Mizanur Rahman alias Minhaz. They are members of the banned militant organization Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
The court also fined each convict Tk 50,000.
Anwar and Minhaz were present in the dock when the court pronounced the verdict. Nur Mohammad was tried in absentia while another died during the trial period.
Two militants hacked Professor Azad near the TSC on the Dhaka University campus on February 27 in 2004. He he was returning home from the book fair at Bangla Academy at the time of the incident. They hacked him several times on the jaw, the lower part of the neck, and hands.
Professor Azad was found dead in his apartment in Munich, Germany on August 12 in 2004.
He had written a satire called “Pak Sar Jamin Sad Bad” where he criticised the political ideologies of the pro-Pakistani Islamic extremists of Bangladesh. After the book was published at the book fair of 2004, he started receiving threats, with Islamist parties parading the streets demanding his arrest.
A week before the attack on him, lawmaker of Jamaat-e-Islami Delawar Hossain Sayeedi said in the parliament that Prof Azad's political satire must be banned, and wanted to table a blasphemy law in Bangladesh for this kind of book. Sayedee was awarded life imprisonment for his involvement in crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.
Two cases filed over the attack and death of Prof Azad were delayed much due to the non-appearance of witnesses, and the alleged negligence of prosecution lawyers.
Soon after the murder attempt, a case was filed with Ramna police station accusing unidentified persons.
Three years after the incident, CID Inspector Kazi Abdul Malek pressed charges against five people on November 14, 2007.
On October 20, 2009, a Dhaka court ordered further investigation into the case following a petition filed by the DU teacher’s brother Manzur Kabir.
Following a reinvestigation, the CID submitted a fresh charge sheet accusing five JMB leaders and appealed to the court to turn the case into a murder case on April 30, 2012.
On September 10, 2012, the court indicted the four JMB leaders.
