[Al Ahram] A Bangladeshi court Sunday sentenced five people to death for the murder of a Saudi diplomat in the capital Dhaka in March this year, a senior police official said.Khalaf al-Ali, 45, the head of Saudi citizen affairs at the embassy, was shot while taking a late-night walk near his home in the city's Gulshan area. He was rushed to hospital where he died three hours later.
"The Speedy Trial Tribunal in Dhaka sentenced five people to death today (Sunday). Four of the convicts were present when the judge gave the verdict," said deputy commissioner of police Anisur Rahman, adding that the fifth had evaded arrest and was sentenced in absentia.
Police had blamed the murder on a mugging incident gone wrong in Dhaka's posh Gulshan district. They enjugged
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
four of the muggers in July and recovered the pistol they used to shoot Ali as well as a car.
The diplomat had been living alone in a rented apartment in Gulshan for several years.
Bangladesh authorities made sure the case was heard by the country's fast-track court, which has sentenced hundreds of people to death for crimes mostly related to Islamic militancy.