A special court of Bangladesh on Sunday April 18 sentenced 57 soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) for the 2009 mutiny just two months after Sheikh Hasina took over as prime minister. The sentence ranges from four months to seven years.
Judge Maj. Gen. Mainul Islam earlier this month sentenced 79 BDR personnel who took part in the mutiny. He held them guilty of taking up arms, firing and blocking a road during the Feb. 25-26 uprising.
The revolt is said to be over poor pay structure and demands of parity in pay and other perks enjoyed by army officers, who lead the force on deputation. At least 74 army men, 57 of them commanders were killed in the mutiny that began at the BDR headquarters in Dhaka and spread to border camps across the country.
Initially Prime Minister Hasina held negotiations with the mutineers and even offered them amnesty. But when dozens of bodies including those of dozens of commanding officers were discovered dumped into shallow graves or sewers on the sprawling compound, she rolled back her offer of amnesty to the leaders of the mutiny. Over 2100 arrests were made in connection with the revolt.
