21 Oct 2012

Border guards sentenced to prison for mutiny

11:27 am on 21 October 2012

A court in Bangladesh has sentenced 723 border guards to prison for their role in a mutiny in February 2009.

The verdict on Saturday was the final in a series of mass trials conducted by the military.

Nearly 6000 soldiers have now been imprisoned for the mutiny.

The Human Rights Watch group says a number of suspects died in custody while others were beaten and tortured.

The military says a number of suspects died of heart attacks or other natural causes.

The BBC reports the mutiny begabn at the headquarters of the former Bangladeshi Rifles in Dhaka. Other BDR units across Bangladesh joined the rebellion which lasted 33 hours.

Afterwards, the bodies of 57 senior army officers were found in sewers or shallow graves.