A Bangladeshi court sentenced two students to death for their role in the 2013 murder of Ahmed Rajib Haider, a secular blogger known for his tough stance on Islamic fundamentalism.
Ahmed Rajib Haider, 35, was hacked to death by machete-wielding attackers in the capital city Dhaka in February 2013, reported Reporters Without Borders. His body was so badly mutilated during the attack that friends and family were unable to recognize him.
The judge gave two men, identified as Faisal bin Nayem and Rezwanul Azad Rana, death sentences after finding the guilty of murder, and convicted five other men, including Mufti Jashimuddin Rahmani, a senior figure in the Ansarullah Bangla militant group, on lesser charges related to Hader's death.
Nayem was tried and convicted in court, but Rana, identified as the "mastermind" of the killings by local media, has been on the run since the start of the trial and was sentenced in absentia.
Rahmani was determined to be the "instigator" after it was found that all of those involved in the murder, all of whom happened to be students of North South University, were followers of his sermons. During said sermons, he preached it was legal to kill atheist bloggers who campaigned against Islam. He was sentenced to five years in prison for abetting the murder.
The outcome of the trial was viewed unfavorably by Haider's father, Mohammad Nazim Uddin, who was "extremely sad and disappointed" that only two of the eight involved in the killings were handed life sentences, according to BBC.
"I'm not happy with the verdict. I reject this verdict. Five of them confessed their involvement in the killing. But only two were given death sentence. How is it possible?" he said.
Haider is acknowledged to be the first secular blogger to have been murdered in Bangladesh. In total, six have been killed since his death and four have occurred since February.
• Avijit Roy was hacked to death on the Dhaka University campus while walking with his wife.
• In March, Washiqur Rahman Babu was hacked to death in Dhaka by three men over alleged anti-Islamic writings.
• On May 12, Ananta Bijoy Das, was killed in the Subid Bazar area of Sylhet city.
• Lastly in August, Niloy Chowdhury was killed in his apartment by four men who entered the building by posing as tenants.
