Blogger Rajib murder case
2 get death, 1 life in jail
STAFF REPORTER
A Dhaka Court yesterday sentenced two persons to death and one to life imprisonment for the 2013 murder of secular blogger and Ganajagaran Mancha activist Ahmed Rajib Haider.
Special Trial Tribunal-3 Judge Sayeed Ahmed pronounced the verdict in presence of seven of the accused, this marking the first such verdict in any blogger murder case in the country.
Faisal Din Nayeem alias Dwip and Redwanul Azad Rana, both students of North South University (NSU), received death penalty with a fine of Tk.10,000 each, while Maksudul Hasan Anik got a lifer with a fine of Tk. 10,000. In case of default, Maksudul will have to serve an additional year in prison.
The judge pronounced different prison sentences for five other accused, four of them being from NSU and one, the chief of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), Mufti Jasim Uddin Rahmani. Ehsan Reza alias Rumman, Nayem Sikdar alias Iraj, and Nafis Imtiaz were each sentenced to 10 years in prison with a fine of Tk. 5,000. In case of default, the trio will have to endure an additional six months jail term. Sadman Yasir Mahmud was given three years in prison, along with a Tk. 2,000 fine, with another three months in jail in case of default. Mufti Jasim Uddin Rahmani, the instigator, was given five-year jail term.
However, the family of slain activist Rajib expressed disappointment at the courts verdict as they expected maximum punishment for all the eight convicts.
Rajibs father, Dr Najim Uddin, rejected the verdict saying, I cannot obey the courts order. I will appeal to the apex court against the verdict. After my sons brutal killing, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told me that Rajib is not only my child but also hers and I would surely get justice. But I must say the verdict could not satisfy me.
Rajib, an architect by profession, was hacked to death on Feb 15, 2013, in the first of a string of brutal killings targeting secular writers, near his home at Dhakas Mirpur Palash Nagar. Rajib, better known as Thaba Baba (online identity), also allegedly wrote against Islam and mocked Prophet Mohammed on blogs, earning the students wrath.
Police said Rahmani, the mastermind behind the murder, a firebrand cleric who headed a mosque in Dhakas Mohammadpur neighbourhood, had preached that it was legal to kill atheist bloggers who campaigned against Islam.
The trial in the murder case began with the recording of deposition of the plaintiff and Rajibs father, Dr Najim Uddin, on May 27. The court has so far recorded submissions of 33 out of a total 55 witnesses in the case. Earlier, on May 11, Judge Ruhul Amin of the Fourth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Court shifted the case to the Speedy Trial Tribunal-3.
Of the accused, Rahmani was indicted under sections 302 and 107 of the penal code while the others were indicted under sections 302 and 34. On January 28 in 2014, police pressed charges against all eight accused.
Of the students, Rana, a former leader of Jamaat-e-Islamis student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, had been absconding since filing of the case. He is also said to be a member of the banned Islamist group ABT. Police detained Rahmani and 30 other alleged militants from a house in South Khajurtala of Barguna town on August 11 in 2013. On August 27 in 2013, a Dhaka court placed Rahmani on a seven-day remand in the case. On September 3, he confessed to having been involved in the murder before a metropolitan magistrate. Rahmani, was shown arrested in the case on August 15.
Five more secular bloggers and a publisher have been killed this year, triggering protests and claims that the government is not doing enough to protect dissident writers and activists. According to police, ABT is behind the attacks.
