Bangladesh continues ban on websites that published mutiny meeting audio News
Bangladesh continues ban on websites that published mutiny meeting audio

[JURIST] Head of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) [official website] Ziaul Islam said Tuesday that there are no plans in place to lift the ban on several websites that have posted a recording in which Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina [official profile, BBC profile] is criticized by army officers over how she handled the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) [official website] mutiny [BBC backgrounder] in late February. The BTRC blocked several websites [AFP report] Sunday on government instructions that identified them as subversive or detrimental to the administration because the audio [YouTube clip, part 1 in Bangla; part 2, in Bangla] of the meeting could be distributed through them. Among the websites banned [Blitz report] are YouTube and Esnips [websites]. Bangladeshi media has reported on the contents of the meeting but has not published a transcript.

Bangladeshi officials said Saturday that the government is considering trying by court-martial [JURIST report] the more than 1,000 border guards accused of participating in the BDR mutiny, which killed dozens of top BDR officials, including the force's commander. The US FBI team sent to Bangladesh to assist in the investigation arrived on Sunday [BBN report], and Scotland Yard investigators are also expected to join in the investigation. Hasina was elected to office in December 2008, ending two years of military rule.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.