Bangladesh Court Upholds Death Sentences in Coup Case

DHAKA, Nov 19 (VoBD) - Bangladesh's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld death sentences on five men convicted of killing the country's independence leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in an army revolt 34 years ago, lawyers and court officials said. Mujib was slain with most members of his family in the August 15, 1975 revolt, which ended the nation's first spell of democracy and set the stage for a series of coups and foiled coups.

Fifteen men, mostly former army officers, were sentenced to death by a Dhaka court in 1998 but the High Court later reprieved three of them. Of the remaining 12, six fled and were never caught, one died abroad and the other five remain in prison awaiting execution.