Salauddin Salehin

BANGLADESH: APEX COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY OF JMB MILITANT SALEHIN

November 24, 2021:

The Supreme Court of Bangladesh on 23 November 2021 upheld the death penalty of Salauddin Salehin, a dreaded militant from the banned JMB, who was convicted in the killing of Goni Gomez of Jamalpur 17 years ago.
A five-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, passed the order after hearing a petition while Deputy Attorney General Biswajit Debnath represented the state.
Salehin has been a fugitive since 2015 when his militants abducted him from a prison van, carrying him to Mymensingh jail after a gun attack in Trishal upazila.
The court did not consider the appeal of Rakib, another death-row convict in the case, as he was killed in a gunfight with police in 2015.
In 2006, Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal sentenced Salehin and Rakib to death in the case and later the High Court (HC) upheld the sentence rejecting their appeal.
Rejected by the HC, the two appealed the death sentence before the Supreme Court.
Additional Attorney General Mehedi Hasan Chowdhury said Goni Gomez, owner of a pharmacy, was killed by the JMB men in 2004 for converting to Christianity from Islam.