Appeal against acquittal of 69 BDR mutineers

The prosecution on Wednesday filed an appeal in the High Court seeking punishment for 69 accused who were acquitted in BDR mutiny and massacre cases. A trial court in Dhaka last year cleared 277 accused of charges. Appeal was not filed against 208 others who were let off due to lack of substantial evidence. State counsel Deputy Attorney General Farhad Hossain said “We have reviewed documents of the acquitted accused after the verdict. The 69 accused were cleared of charges from the trial court even after sufficient evidence against them. For that we have filed an appeal seeking their punishment,” he said today. A total of 74 people including 57 army officers were killed in the February 25-26, 2009, mutiny at the Peelkhana headquarters of the then Bangladesh Rifles (BDR). The court on November 4, 2013, sentenced to death 152 jawans and non-commissioned officers, including Deputy Assistant Director Touhidul Alam, for the Peelkhana carnage. DAD Touhid and 151 other jawans and non-commissioned officers were also fined Tk 100,000 along with their death sentences. Of the 846 living accused, the court handed down life sentence to 161 people, including former BNP MP Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu and local Awami League leader Torab Ali. The two were also fined Tk 500,000 each and would suffer five more years in jail for non-payment. 161 men were also given 10 years in jail and Tk 20,000 in fine for looting arms and two more years of imprisonment for non-payment. Total 256 accused were given various jail terms between three and 10 years and fined varying amounts. Another 277 men were acquitted for insufficient evidence, according to bdnews24.com.