Two sentenced to death for Bangladesh blogger murder

In Bangladesh, two students have been sentenced to death for the killing of an atheist blogger there in 2013, the first convictions in a series of killings targeting secular writers. Faisal bin Nayem alias Dweep and Rezwanul Azad Rana were found guilty yesterday of murdering Ahmed Rajib Haider, a blogger and activist known by his pen name, Thaba Baba. Six others were convicted. Haider was among a group of bloggers who had called for the execution of Islamist leaders for crimes



committed in the 1971 war. 

The fast track court yesterday sentenced six other people to different prison terms, including a life sentence for 23-year old Maksudul Hasan. Jasimuddin Rahmani, chief of banned Islamist outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team, which claimed responsibility for Haider's killing, was sentenced to five years in prison. One of the two students, who attended one of the country's top universities, is on the run and was sentenced in absentia.