Bangladesh High Court Acquits All Accused in 2004 Grenade Attack on Sheikh Hasina's Rally
In a landmark ruling on Sunday, the High Court of Bangladesh acquitted all 49 individuals accused in the 2004 grenade attack on an Awami League rally that targeted then-opposition leader Sheikh Hasina. The attack left 24 people dead and nearly 300 injured, marking one of the most notorious political violence incidents in the country's history.
Among the acquitted were prominent figures including Tarique Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, and Lutfozzaman Babar, a former state minister. Rahman, currently the acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), had been sentenced to life imprisonment by a lower court in 2018. His acquittal marks a significant shift in the legal proceedings surrounding the case.
The High Court, in its ruling, annulled the verdict of the lower court, calling it "illegal." The bench, led by Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain, based its decision on the argument that the evidence used in the case was flawed. Specifically, the court criticized the reliance on a confession made by Mufti Abdul Hannan, the leader of the banned militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI). Hannan had been convicted for his role in the attack, but he was executed in another case, and the court determined that his confession was coerced and inadmissible due to improper handling by the investigating magistrate.
The two cases—one for murder and another under the Explosives Act—had been initiated following the grenade attack on August 21, 2004. The attack occurred as Sheikh Hasina was addressing a rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka, which was meant to protest terrorism. Despite narrowly escaping the assault, Hasina’s life was put in jeopardy as grenades were thrown at her convoy. The attack, which also targeted Awami League leadership, led to widespread political upheaval.
In the wake of the attack, 19 people were sentenced to death by a Dhaka court in 2018, including Babar, a former high-ranking member of the ruling party at the time. Nineteen others, including Rahman, were handed life sentences. However, the High Court’s decision now renders these sentences null and void, resulting in the release of all the accused.
The High Court's decision came after a prolonged legal process that saw numerous appeals and death references being reviewed. During the hearings, defense attorneys argued that there were no specific allegations directly linking their clients to the attack, while state prosecutors urged the court to uphold the lower court's verdict, asserting that the evidence was conclusive.
The 2004 grenade attack has had long-lasting repercussions on Bangladesh's political landscape. Analysts have previously stated that the attack was a calculated attempt to eliminate the leadership of the Awami League. The FBI had even been called in to investigate the incident, which involved sophisticated grenade devices. A former director of Bangladesh's intelligence agency, DGFI, later testified that high-level officials may have been involved in shielding the perpetrators of the attack.
As the political landscape shifts once more, the acquittal of these high-profile figures has reignited debates on justice, political influence, and accountability in Bangladesh's legal system. The ruling has deepened the political divide between the two main rival parties—Awami League and BNP—and is likely to continue to shape the country's political discourse for years to come.
