Twenty students have been sentenced to death in Bangladesh for killing a student who was critical of the government on social media in 2019.
According to the AFP news agency, 21-year-old Abrar Fahad had written a post on Facebook against the water agreement with India by Prime Minister Hasina Wajid and her body was found in a hostel a few hours later.
He was beaten by 25 students for six hours with a cricket bat and other items. The students were members of the student wing of the ruling Awami League."I am just happy with the decision. I hope they will be punished soon. "
The other five students have been sentenced to life imprisonment. The students sentenced to death were between 20 and 22 years old at the time of the murder and were studying with Fahad at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.
Farooq Ahmed, a lawyer for some of the convicted students, said an appeal would be lodged against the sentence. "I am just happy to be free. That's not fair. "
"These are young people and some of them are the best students in the country. Some of them did not have proper evidence against them, yet they were sentenced to death.
Protesters in the wake of the assassination of Abrar Fahd called for harsher punishments for the attackers and a ban on their organization.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Hasina Wajid had said the students would be given "severe punishment".
The country's law minister, Anisul Haq, said: "The court's decision shows that no one can go free after committing such a crime."A student group called Chitra Odhikar Parishad rallied to welcome the decision.
The group's general secretary, Ikram Hussain, said: "This decision is a victory for the people.
It should be noted that earlier in 2019, 16 people were sentenced to death for burning another student alive.
20 students sentenced to death in Bangladesh, 'This decision is a victory for the people
