A tribunal has sentenced six fugitives to death for committing crimes against humanity in Mymensingh's Trishal during the Liberation War in 1971.
According to bdnews24.com, a three-member panel of the International Crimes Tribunal headed by Justice Md Shahinur Islam passed the verdict on Monday.
The capital punishment recipients are Md Mokhlesur Rahman Mukuk, Saidur Rahman Ratan, Shamsul Haque Fakir, Nurul Haque Fakir, Sultan Mahmud Fakir and Nakib Hossain Adil Sarker.
The convicts faced multiple charges of abduction, unlawful detention and torture, including three counts of murder.
The six of them received the death penalty for the murder of freedom fighter Abdul Hamid Heman, while only Mahmud Fakir avoided capital punishment for the killing of Yunus Ali, an ordinary citizen.
Additionally, Mokhlesur, Saidur and Nurul Haque were sentenced to death for abducting, detaining and killing another freedom fighter.
They were also handed different jail terms on the other counts.
Security at the court premises was beefed up ahead of the verdict. The number of policemen deployed at the entrance to the High Court was also more than usual. Members of the Armed Police Battalion were also stationed across the premises.
No one was allowed entry to the International Crimes Tribunal. An archway was installed at the entrance and even those who had authorisation to enter the courtroom had undergo a search.
"Security is always high at the court premises but the measures were heightened with a bigger police presence in light of the verdict" said Inspector Rokon Uddin, who was overseeing security.
The investigation into the charges against the convicts started in January 2017 and a report was submitted in December that year.
The accused were indicted a year later and after recording the testimonies of 19 people, the case reached the verdict stage in December 2022.