On August 29, 2005, the Bangladesh High Court ruled that the August 1975 military takeover of the country was "illegal" and "void." The coup resulted in the assassination of the country's president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his entire family. It was the first of several military coups which have racked Bangladesh since its independence from Pakistan in 1971. The court further stated in its opinion that Khandaker Moshtaque Ahmed's assumption of the presidency after the coup was a clear violation of the Bangladesh Constitution, and as such all of the subsequent actions of his regime were "illegitimate."

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