Bangladesh top court commutes death sentences of 7 militants to life in prison for 2016 cafe attack

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s High Court has commuted the death sentences of seven Islamic militants to life in prison for their role in a 2016 attack on a cafe in the capital, Dhaka, that killed more than 20 people, mostly foreigners. A special anti-terrorism tribunal in 2019 sentenced the seven members of a banned militant group to death in the attack that triggered a major crackdown on extremists. The group behind the attack on the Holey Artisan Cafe, the Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, wants to establish Sharia law in the secular Muslim-majority nation of more than 160 million. A two-member panel of High Court judges on Monday commuted the death sentences after rejecting the men’s appeals challenging the verdict.