[JURIST] Bangladesh [JURIST news archive] on Friday executed six Islamic militants convicted in the 2005 murders of two judges [JURIST report]. Authorities previously stated that the executions were scheduled to occur in April [JURIST report]. The six militants, members of the banned Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh and the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh [SATP backgrounders] who admitted attacking judges because they want to replace the secular legal system with Sharia law [CFR backgrounder], had unsuccessfully appealed for clemency from Bangladesh President Iajuddin Ahmed [official profile] earlier this month after the Supreme Court [official website] rejected their appeal in November.

The Court had previously stayed the execution [JURIST report] of the militants, who were sentenced to die [JURIST report] by hanging in May 2006. Seven men were convicted for their role in the killings, but one remains at large. AP has more.