DHAKA: Bangladesh sentences six militants to death

A court in Bangladesh’s capital on Tuesday sentenced to death six militants from a pair of banned radical groups for the killing of seven people during a bank robbery last year. The court also sentenced three other militants from the groups to prison terms ranging from three years to life. Two other suspects were acquitted.
Both of the groups — Jumataul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, or JMB, and Ansarullah Bangla Team — are banned in Bangladesh. Police said that all of the suspects were originally members of JMB, but that some of them later became members of the new group Ansarullah Bangla Team, which has been blamed by Bangladeshi authorities for attacks and killings of liberal intellectuals and bloggers in recent months.
Meanwhile, four Bangladeshi workers held on suspicion of planning attacks linked to Daesh in their own country were convicted of financing terrorism by a court in Singapore on Tuesday.
Prosecutors said the men, who pleaded guilty, had raised money to buy firearms to launch attacks in Bangladesh.
They are to be sentenced on June 21 and face a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail and a fine of 500,000 Singapore dollars ($362,260).
Two other workers have pleaded not guilty. Their trial dates have not been set.
The men have been detained since April under Singapore’s Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial in cases where public safety is threatened. The Ministry of Home Affairs has said the group’s suspected leader, Rahman Mizanur, possessed guides on making weapons and bombs, as well as radical material from the Islamic State group and al-Qaida that he used to recruit the others.
Rahman, 31, arrived at Singapore’s State Court on Tuesday with his arms and legs shackled, surrounded by a heavy police guard. He pleaded guilty and was convicted of two charges of financing terrorism, by inviting group members to contribute funds and handling the money to facilitate plans.
Prosecutors said in court that Rahman told the group that money was needed to purchase food, arms and weapons like knives and pistols, and that everyone had agreed to contribute part of their salary.
Police charge sheets said they had contributed to, held or dealt with money for the alleged plans, with amounts ranging from 60 to 1,360 Singapore dollars.

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