Bangladesh court sentences 26 to death for murder News
Bangladesh court sentences 26 to death for murder

[JURIST] A Bangladesh court in Dhaka sentenced 26 people to death by hanging on Monday after convicting them of murdering seven. Three of those sentenced [Al Jazeera report] to death were senior officers of the country’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) [official website] force. Judge Syed Enayet Hossain convicted all 35 accused of the crimes. The victims had been abducted in April 2014 from a cricket match in Narayanganj, and their bodies were later found floating in a river three days later.

In August UN humans rights experts urged [JURIST report] the government of Bangladesh to repeal the death sentence imposed upon Mir Quasem Ali, an opposition member of the Jamaat-e-Islami party. Also in August the International Crimes Tribunal Bangladesh (ICTB) [official website] sentenced [JURIST report] a former member of parliament to death and seven others to life in prison for crimes committed during the 1971 war for independence. In July a Bangladeshi court officially indicted [JURIST report] 41 people with murder stemming from a 2013 garment factory collapse which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,100 people. In June the ICTB sentenced [JURIST report] Mohibur Rahman to death for his part in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Laws of Burgos put into effect

The Spanish Crown put the Laws of Burgos into effect on December 27, 1512. These laws governed the relationship of Spanish settlers with the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean. The laws established the encomienda system of labor, promoted conversion to Catholicism, and safeguarded the indigenous peoples from physical abuse.  However, historians argue that the laws were ineffective at protecting the rights of the indigenous population. Learn more from the Library of Congress.

Prohibitionist Carrie Nation carried out her first public bar smashing

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