Bangladesh: Death sentence of seven terrorists pardoned in 2016 Dhaka cafe attack case, court changes sentence to life imprisonment.

Bangladesh’s High Court on Monday commuted the death sentences of seven Islamic militants to life imprisonment. The court’s decision in the 2016 case came nearly four years later. The terrorists convicted in the country’s worst terrorist attack on a popular Dhaka cafe among the countrymen will now have to serve jail term till their death. 23 people including an Indian girl were killed in the terrorist attack.

Death of citizens of many countries
According to reports, heavily armed terrorists attacked the Holi Artisan Bakery restaurant in the posh diplomatic area of Dhaka on 1 July 2016. After taking the diners hostage, they killed three Bangladeshis, seven Japanese, nine Italians and one Indian.

The terrorists were killed during the rescue operation by commandos. Two police officers and a chef were killed during the conflict that lasted for about 12 hours. Eight suspects were killed during a raid by security forces following the attack.

Let us tell you that on November 27, 2019, the Special Anti-Terrorism Tribunal in Dhaka convicted seven terrorists in the country’s most brutal terrorist incident case. All seven accused found guilty of involvement in the attack were members of Neo Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh. The court sentenced everyone to death.

On Monday, a two-member bench of the High Court commuted the death sentences of seven people to life imprisonment, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported. The High Court bench included Justice Shahidul Karim and Justice Mohammad Mustafizur Rahman.

According to the newspaper report, this decision came after the hearing on the appeal in the death case was over. This was confirmed by Deputy Attorney General Bashir Ahmed and defense lawyer Ariful Islam. According to the Bangladesh Criminal Procedure Code, any death sentence issued by a lower court is reviewed by the High Court before it is finalized.

Let us tell you that the Islamic State group had claimed responsibility for the attack, but the government rejected it and said that a domestic group was behind it. According to officials involved in the investigation of the incident, Neo Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (Neo-JMB), a domestic terrorist group with leanings towards Islamic State or IS philosophy, was suspected. According to them, the terrorist attack was carried out to attract international attention and to make their presence felt in the Muslim majority nation.