Bangladesh death sentences given

The four politicians were aides of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

The 30-year-old case of four murdered Bangladeshi politicians has finally ended with death sentences for three former junior military officers.

A court in Dhaka sentenced the men, all of whom are on the run, for killing the aides of assassinated president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in a prison in 1975.

Twelve senior officers, 11 of whom have already been sentenced to death for killing Rahman, were given life terms.

Five people were acquitted of killing the politicians.

Only three of the 12 officers given life sentences were in the dock, the others are also on the run.

The five acquitted defendants - four politicians and an officer - had been given bail and were in court to hear the verdict.

All the defendants who appeared for the trial had denied all the charges. Police believe most of those who absconded have left the country.

Dismissed

The main opposition party, the Awami League, condemned the acquittal of the four politicians, who included M Obaidur Rahman, an MP of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Legal proceedings began when Sheikh Hasina took office in 1996

It called a half-day general strike for 3 November.

The BBC's Waliur Rahman in Dhaka says the judgement for a case that has gripped the country for decades was delivered amid tight security.

Judge Mohammad Motiur Rahman of the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Court read out the judgement in a makeshift court compound near the city's central jail after it had been deferred twice last month.

Those given death sentences were Risaldar Mosleh Uddin, Dafadar Marafat Ali Shah and Dafadar Abul Hasem Mridha.

All were junior officers in the army who were dismissed from the service.

They absconded when trial proceedings were ordered in 1996; two decades after the murders took place in Dhaka's central jail.

Delays

The Supreme Court is currently reviewing the death sentences handed to the 11 senior officers for assassinating Rahman, the country's first president, who was killed with most of his family members in August 1975.

The sessions court heard that his four aides were then killed when they refused to join the then government of President Mushtaque Ahmed.

Ms Zia's government was accused of dragging its feet

Ahmed and a former civil servant were also charged with the killings but both died before legal proceedings began.

The proceedings were only instigated in 1996 after Rahman's daughter, Sheikh Hasina, led her Awami League party to power.

The four murdered politicians - Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, Mansur Ali and AHM Qamaruzzman - were all members of the Awami League.

Wednesday's verdict had been scheduled for 7 September but was put back to 21 September because of the illness of the judge.

It was further delayed following a petition by a defence lawyer.

The Awami League said the verdict had been dictated by the ruling BNP government of Begum Khaleda Zia.

The families of the murdered men say her government has interfered in the trial process to save some of the accused.

But Law Minister Moudud Ahmed said the court had never been influenced and the government had no political interest in the case.