A Bangladesh anti-terrorism tribunal on Wednesday sentenced seven to death for plotting the 2016 attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery that killed 22 people.
21 people were said to have been involved in the attack, including the eight that were charged and the five who carried it out. All five of the militants who stormed the cafe were killed in a rescue operation that took place in the morning after the attack.
Of the eight that were accused, one, Mizanur Rahman, was acquitted. Speaking to the media after the verdict, public prosecutor Golam Sarwar Khan said that the charges against them had been proved “beyond doubt” and that they had been given Bangladesh’s highest sentence as a result.
While the defendants have claimed innocence, with their lawyers saying that they would appeal the judgement, two of those who were charged put on caps bearing the insignia of ISIS during their sentencing, and shouted “Allah is great”.
The Daily Star reported that it was not known how they got access to the caps, quoting prison officials who said that an investigation into the lapse would be conducted.
The men will likely be executed by hanging.
The men belonged to Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a group that was also involved in the 2005 serial blasts, where 500 simultaneous bomb blasts took place in 63 out of 64 of Bangladesh’s districts. JMB was also accussed of carrying out the 2016 attacks, although ISIS had also claimed responsibility for the same.
The group has since devolved into factions, believed to have been inspired from and to have links with ISIS.
Speaking after the ruling, Bangladesh Law Minister Anisul Huq said, "The ruling will set an example. It will give a message to militant groups that none of them will be spared."
On the night of July 1, 2016, five militants armed with knives, guns and bombs entered the Holey Artisan Bakery and took 22 people hostage—most of whom were foreigners. Segregating the Muslims and the non-Muslims, they started to brutally kill the non-Muslim hostages.
Out of those killed included nine Italians, seven Japanese citizens, an American and an Indian.
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Located in Dhaka’s affluent Gulshan neighbourhood, the cafe was a popular spot for diplomats, expatriates and tourists.
The Bangladesh 1st Para Commando Battalion led an attack on the cafe the next morning, beginning a siege that lasted 12 hours. In the end, all of the attackers were killed, as well as several hostages (although 13 were rescued). In the operation, two police officers were killed and 30 were injured.
While early reports stated that six terrorists were killed in the shootout, it was later reported that one person was accidentally shot by security forces; a chef at the Holey Artisan Bakery named Saiful Islam. While police said they were investigating him for possible links to the groups, they also acknowledged that he may have been one of the hostages.
One of the masterminds, Nurul Islam Marzan, was killed by a police operation in January 2017, along with another extremist. In total, eight of those accussed of plotting the attack were killed in police operations since it took place.
