Capital punishment for Christian's murder

Two militants of the Islamic group, Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, will be hanged for the pre-meditated murder two years ago of a Christian convert.

Dhaka (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Two Islamic militants, Hafez Mahmud and Mohammad Salauddin, of the group, Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) have been sentenced to death for murdering a Christian convert. The murder took place in September 2004: Abdul Gani Gomes, who had been a Christian for more than 15 years, was attacked by four people, including Mahmud and Salauddinn, as he was returning home.

The capital punishment was handed down by a fast-track court in the capital Dhaka. The court found the two militants "guilty of pre-meditated murder" and sentenced them to hang. Mahmud and Salauddinn confessed they had killed the man because he gave up Islam. The local media claimed that the Christian had "irritated" the two killers with his evangelical activities.

The government blames the JMB group for 500 coordinated blasts across the country on 17 August 2005. Two people were killed in the explosions. The JMB aims to change Bangladesh from a secular democracy to an Islamic regime with the introduction of Sharia.

• BANGLADESH
• islam
• religious
• freedom
• violence
• sentence
• christians
• terrorism