Earlier this week six Bangladeshi men accused of belonging to an Islamist militant group were convicted and sentenced to death for their role in the killing of a prominent LGBTQ rights activist and his friend in 2016. After attacking a security guard, the six entered Mannan’s apartment, killing both men. The assassins, who were also armed with guns, escaped the building through a narrow alley, opening fire on police as they left. Mannan had previously started an LGBTQ magazine, Roopbaan, in 2014 — a radical act in a conservative Islamic-majority country where same-sex relations are illegal. Prosecutors claimed the six men who were convicted were members of Ansar al-Islam, a banned militant group that local news outlets have connected to Al-Qaeda.

Source: MetroXpress September 03, 2021 16:29 UTC