State waiting for HC judgment in Holey Artisan attack case

Attorney General AM Amin Uddin has said the state is waiting for releasing of the full text of the High Court judgment that commuted death sentences of seven convicts to imprisonment till natural death in a case filed over the horrific militant attack in the capital's Holey Artisan Bakery on July 1, 2016.

"We will take the next step in the case after releasing and subsequently reviewing the full text of the High Court judgment and consulting the matter with concerned authorities. We have to understand under which logic their life sentences have been commuted to imprisonment till natural death," he said while talking to newsmen on the 8th anniversary of the Holey Artisan attack that claimed the lives of 22 people in total.

Dhaka Anti-terrorism Special Tribunal on November 27, 2019, convicted and sentenced seven militants to death in the sensational case. The seven convicts are Jahangir Alam alias Rajib Gandhi, Rakibul Hasan Regan, Rashedul Islam alias Rash, Sohel Mahfuz, Hadisur Rahman Sagar, Shariful Islam and Mamunur Rashid.

It had also acquitted another accused Mizanur Rahman alias Boro Mizan from the charge framed under section 6 (2) (a) of the Anti-Terror Act 2009.

Dhaka Anti-terrorism Special Tribunal came up with the judgment, almost three and a half years after the grisly militant attack on the upscale cafe, in the capital's Gulshan area on July 1, 2016.

The matter later came to the High Court to approve of the death sentence. The convicts in the meantime also filed criminal appeals and jail appeals against the judgment.

The High Court on October 30, 2023, commuted the death sentences of seven militants to imprisonment till natural death in a case filed over the attack.

A High Court division bench of Justice Shahidul Karim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman passed the judgment after hearing death references, jail appeals, and criminal appeals.

The court had pronounced the judgment in Bengali, saying the incident of brutal killing tarnished the country's image in the global arena immensely. That also created severe panic among the people and severely compromised public safety, it observed.