BDR carnage case
11 recommendations as HC releases full verdict
Staff Reporter, Dhaka
In the full text of its verdict in the BDR carnage case, the High Court (HC) has given 11 recommendations. These include forming a committee to find out the reason behind the failure of the Rifles Security Unit of BDR (now BGB) to provide information to the commission on the BDR massacre of February 2526, 2009 at Pilkhana.
The HC bench expressed hope that the authorities concerned would conduct an investigation and make the report public at the earliest. In the biggest ever criminal case in the countrys history in terms of the number of accused and convicts, the HC bench yesterday released the full text of its verdict that confirmed the death penalty to 139 accused and upheld the life imprisonment of 185 others for their involvement in the massacre during the 2009 BDR mutiny.
In the full text of its verdict, the HC observed: The convicts of this case not only committed murders, but also committed crimes against humanity by killing innocent army officers and women who were unarmed at the time of occurrence. By their barbarous, devilish, despotic, treacherous, and ghastly offences proved that the object of the conspiracy of the convicts was not only to uproot the Army officers from the BDR force, but to kill them forever in order to establish their supremacy in BDR, it added.
This incident was an unprecedented event in the history of crimes in the world. In carnage, the nation had lost some promising, bright, distinguished, luminous, patriotic, and outstanding Army officers and it will take a long time to fill up the vacuum, the verdict said. In its recommendations, the HC said that the BGB members should not indulge in such heinous and nefarious acts in future in order to tarnish the image of BGB and country as well.
Members of BDR (now BGB) should not carry out any activity like operation Dal-Bhat which hurts the pride and self-respect of BGB members, it observed.
The HC expressed hope that the BGB authority should not take up any programme that would gradually result in the degeneration of soldierly attitude and behaviour of BGB members, according to the full verdict. The home ministry and the BGB authority should provide quick decisions on all the problems of BGB members, taking the same into consideration as quickly as possible, the verdict copy said.
The BGB will mitigate all the grievances of its personnel, if any that are still hidden at the level of officers and BGB members. The BGB authority will make quick payment of TA and DA bills which are still pending.
The HC expected that the BGB authority should consider the leave matters of BGB members which are due to them and resolve all problems relating to leave and other matters. This court strongly feels that the BGB authority should make an inquiry into the matter by forming a prove committee as to why the Rifles Security Unit of BDR (now BGB) failed to provide necessary information of the BDR massacre of February 25-26, 2009, at Pilkhana to the commission of the same and they should make it public as early as possible, the HC said.
This court further expects that the soldierly relationship and attitude between the officers and the soldiers must be maintained giving mutual respect to each other, it added. The verdict further said that if any soldier commits any misconduct during discharge of duties, he or she should be dealt with in accordance with law.
To avoid any critical situation in the force, unwanted and unbecoming behaviour, conduct and language on the part of the officers and soldiers must be avoided, the HC said. The security of kote and magazine at Pilkhana must be brought under the strict surveillance with a view to protecting them from all kinds of hazards, it added.
Earlier on November 27, 2017, a three-member special bench, comprising Justice Md Shawkat Hossain, Justice Md Abu Zafor Siddique and Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder, had confirmed the death penalty for 139 among the 152 accused for their involvement in the 2009 massacre. The full text of the verdict running into 29,059 pages was released after the three judges of the bench signed it around 10.30 am yesterday.
The HC bench observed that the BDR carnage was carried out by a vested quarter to create a political crisis and damage the countrys democracy. It also observed that there was a plot and conspiracy to uproot, dethrone, and depose the newly formed government headed by Sheikh Hasina, following the 2008 general election.
The BDR rebels, in collaboration with others sharing a common intention and objective, hatched a criminal conspiracy in secret and deliberately killed the Army officers with a view to exterminating them from the BDR and establishing their full control and supremacy over the force, it observed.
No provocation, no criminal conspiracy, no dissatisfaction, and no grievance can justify this sort of atrocity and massacre, it added. After receiving the copy of the verdict, attorney general Mahbubey Alam told reporters yesterday that the government would file an appeal against the acquittal of some of the accused. We will file appeals against 283 people who were acquitted of the charges by the courts. As per the law, we will file the appeals against them within 30 days, he noted.
On November 5, 2013, a Dhaka court had delivered a verdict against 637 persons in the BDR carnage case. The lower court had acquitted 69 people; it handed out death penalty and jail terms to the others.
On February 25, 2009, several hundred soldiers of the BDR took up weapons against their officers, deputed from the Army, at Durbar Hall of the paramilitary headquarters in Dhaka during BDR Week. In the two-day rebellion, 75 people, including 57 Army officers, were killed leaving the nation in shock.
