Wednesday, November 27, 2019

SEVEN TERRORISTS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR THE 2016 HOLEY ARTISAN BAKERY ATTACK IN DHAKA, BANGLADESH (NOVEMBER 27, 2019)

            On this date, November 27, 2019, seven terrorists were sentenced to death by hanging in Dhaka, Bangladesh. They were involved in the Holey Artisan Bakery attack on July 1, 2016. 

  

The seven condemned to death are: Md Aslam Hossain alias Rashed alias Ryash, Jahangir Hossain alias Rajib Gandhi, Abdus Sabur Khan alias Sohel Mahfuz, Hadisur Rahman Sagor, Rakibul Islam Regan, Shariful Islam Khaled, and Mamunur Rashid Ripon.

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/court/2019/11/28/7-to-hang-for-holey-artisan-terror-attack]

Islamists are sentenced to death for 2016 Bangladesh cafe attack where 22 people including a US student were killed while those who could recite the Koran were spared

- The seven jihadists were sentenced to death by hanging at the tribunal in Dhaka

- The 2016 attack on a cafe popular with westerners killed 22 and 18 foreigners

- Terrorists stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery with machetes and assault rifles

- American student, nine Italians and seven Japanese citizens were slaughtered

By Ross Ibbetson For Mailonline and Afp

Published: 19:59 AEDT, 27 November 2019 | Updated: 23:00 AEDT, 27 November 2019

Seven Islamists have been sentenced to death for the 2016 Bangladesh cafe attack in which 22 people, including a US student, were killed in an atrocity which targeted foreigners.

The condemned were found guilty of supplying weapons to the attackers who cut their victims down with machetes and assault rifles during the barbaric assault on the Holey Artisan bakery.

Some 30 hostages were taken, with those who could recite the Koran being spared, while the rest were killed. They included nine Italians, seven Japanese, an Indian and an American.

Some of those sentenced to be hanged shouted 'Allahu Akbar' and 'long live faith of Islam', as they were hauled off to waiting police vans in Dhaka on Wednesday.

A special anti-terrorism tribunal delivered the verdict in a crowded courtroom in the capital, with judge Mojibur Rahman saying the attackers wanted 'to draw the attention of Islamic State' group.

They wanted to 'undermine public safety, create anarchy and 'establish a Jihad(ist)' state, he said, adding that the seven 'will be executed by hanging until they are pronounced dead'.

An eighth man who had been charged was acquitted.

  

Police escort one of the condemned men away from the courthouse today after he was sentenced to death

Police investigators said the July 2016 attack in the affluent Gulshan neighbourhood was aimed at destabilising the Muslim majority nation of 168 million people and to turn it into an Islamist state.

Military commandos stormed the cafe after a 12-hour standoff and freed around 12 hostages, but many had been slaughtered within or killed outside in the crossfire.

   

Victims of the 2016 Holey Artisan Bakery Attack

[PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Seven-terrorists-sentenced-to-death-in-connection-with-the-2016-Dhaka-attack-48661.html


The American victim, Abinta Kabir, was from Miami, Florida.

Also among the dead were Faraaz Hossain, who attended business school at Emory University in Atlanta, and Tarushi Jain, 19, who studied at University of California's Berkeley campus.

Kabir, a sophomore at Emory's Oxford campus, was an American citizen, while Hossain was born in Bangladesh and Jain was of Indian origin.

The majority of those killed were stabbed with machetes and the people in the cafe were split into two groups. The foreigners were taken upstairs, while the Bangladeshis remained downstairs.

Speaking after the attack, Bangladeshi resident Hasnat Karim described bringing his family to the cafe in order to celebrate his daughter's birthday.

Hasnat was too traumatised to say more than a few words about his ordeal, saying only that the hostage-takers 'did not misbehave with us'.

But he detailed to his father Rezaul how the gunmen - who were armed with automatic weapons, bombs and long blades - had separated the diners.

Rezaul said: '(The foreigners) were taken to the upper floor and the Bangladeshis were kept around a table.'

He said his son told him the terrorists 'did not hit people who could recite verses from the Koran. The others were tortured'.

He added: 'The gunmen asked everyone inside to recite from the Koran. Those who recited were spared. The gunmen even gave them meals last night.'

  

Culprits of the 2016 Holey Artisan Bakery Attack

[PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Seven-terrorists-sentenced-to-death-in-connection-with-the-2016-Dhaka-attack-48661.html

Elite Bangladeshi commandos stormed the building after the long siege, freeing some 13 hostages, in addition to another eight who manged to flee.

Six of the terrorists were shot dead and one was arrested at the scene.

The assault was launched on the final Friday of Ramadan, as millions of Muslims prepare to celebrate the Eid holiday. The final ten days of Ramadan are the most solemn in the Islamic calendar.

Two police officers were killed, including a local police station chief, Mohammed Salahuddin, who was earlier injured in the shoot-out.

Another 25 officers and one civilian were injured in total.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack but Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina rejected their claim, saying that it was domestic terror.

The attack fuelled tensions over Islamist extremism in the country.

The secular government launched a massive crackdown that saw more than 100 Islamist extremists killed and nearly 1,000 others arrested.

All five militants were killed when the military stormed the cafe.

Eight others - including mastermind Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, a Canadian of Bangladesh descent - were killed during raids in Dhaka and its suburbs months after the attack.

The dead also included commanders of a new faction of the homegrown extremist group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh, which police blamed for most of the extremist attacks in the South Asian nation since late 1990s.

The hostage crisis marked an escalation from a spate of murders claimed by IS and Al Qaeda of rights activists, gay people, foreigners and religious minorities. It was seen as a major blow to the country's image as a moderate Muslim nation.

INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/posts/2426600170795268 .... …..

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7730409/Islamists-sentenced-death-2016-Bangladesh-cafe-attack-22-people-killed.html

OTHER LINKS:

https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/court/2019/11/28/7-to-hang-for-holey-artisan-terror-attack

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Seven-terrorists-sentenced-to-death-in-connection-with-the-2016-Dhaka-attack-48661.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2016_Dhaka_attack


Sunday, November 24, 2019

Keith Burley, Jr was released for good behaviour, he is now accused of murder


People are more than the worst thing they have ever done in their lives. – Helen Prejean
Explaining her opposition to the death penalty. As quoted in: N.Y. Times Magazine, May 9, 1993


            The above quote by Helen Prejean, was quoted in N.Y. Times Magazine, May 9, 1993, where she explained her opposition to the death penalty. This infamous quote was used by her to give an excuse why guilty murderers should not be put to death. Sadly, this quote has been used by people who want to end mass incarceration as an excuse on why criminals cannot be locked up forever.

            Keith Burley, Jr. is accused of killing an 8-year-old boy in New Castle, just months after his release from prison. The reason for his release: he is a model prisoner. Just like Barry Hadlow and Lenny Keith Lawson, they were brilliant actors to fool the parole board to release them. 

Keith Burley Jr., the man Charged With Kidnapping, Fatally Stabbing 8-Year-Old Boy Has Criminal History

Pa. parole board cites good behavior as reason for releasing parolee now accused of murder

Keith Burley, Jr. is accused of killing an 8-year-old boy in New Castle, just months after his release from prison
by: Chelsea Simeon
Posted: Nov 19, 2019 / 10:44 AM EST Updated: Nov 19, 2019 / 11:02 AM EST

Related Content

·         Parolee accused of killing Lawrence County boy moved throughout multiple prisons during sentence

(WKBN) – The Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole released its reasoning for releasing an inmate who is accused of killing a Lawrence County boy while he was out on parole. 

The board decided to release Keith Burley, Jr. from SCI — Fayette in March following an interview with him and a review of his file. The parole board said its decision was based on the following factors:
  • Burley’s participation in and completion of prescribed institutional programs
  • Positive institutional behavior
  • A positive recommendation made by the Department of Corrections
  • Burley’s demonstrated motivation for success
  • His acceptance of responsibility for the offense(s) committed
  • Stated remorse for the offense(s) committed
  • Development of a parole release plan
  • A positive recommendation made by the trial judge
WKBN also requested records that were given to the parole board before it made its decision, but that information was not provided. According to the board, that information is confidential.

Burley is accused of killing 8-year-old Mark Edward Mason, Jr. after a fight with the boy’s mother in New Castle just months after his release from prison. 

He had spent 20 years in prison after he was convicted of killing a man during a robbery in New Castle.
 
While Burley was in prison, he was charged again in 2002 for an incident that happened inside the facility. According to court documents, he was charged with aggravated harassment and assault by a prisoner. 

The case against him and four other parolees prompted a review of the state’s parole practices.

Burley was first booked into a Pittsburgh facility in 1996. Records show he was moved in and out of various prisons 47 times until March 28, 2019, when he was paroled. 

The Department of Corrections did not release information on whether any misconduct was at play in the moves, citing it was unable to release inmates’ misconduct reports due to “investigative, security and privacy concerns.” 

According to the records provided by the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, Burley was ordered to meet certain criteria to remain on parole. 

He was ordered to have a curfew, have a job or be actively looking for a job, participate in out-patient drug or alcohol treatment, go through random drug tests and avoid consuming alcohol. He was also ordered not to possess ammunition.

Burley is awaiting trial early next year on homicide, kidnapping and other charges.

 
Mark Edward Mason, Jr., New Castle, PA – Obituary

2 teens witnessed Pa. boy, 8, being stabbed to death by homicide parolee: cops

By John Luciew
pennlive.com

Two boys who state police say witnessed a homicide parolee stabbing an 8-year-old boy to death first thought the man was hitting the boy.

But what was happening in a Lawrence County home on Monday night was far more horrific than that.

The newspaper reports the two young witnesses were at a New Castle home playing video games when the suspect, Keith L. Burley Jr., entered the house with two other young boys.

Burley, who just made parole in March on another homicide conviction, had a gun, but apparently no ammo. So he ordered the startled boys to search the house for a magazine full of bullets, the newspaper reports citing the criminal complaint.

But when the boys returned from their bedroom search, they saw something they couldn’t comprehend at first.

One of the boys told police he saw what he thought was Burley hitting one of the young children.

But as the two young witnesses neared Burley, they saw he wasn’t just hitting the 8-year-old.

Burley was repeatedly – and ultimately fatally -- stabbing the boy, now identified by police as Mark Edward Mason.

One of the boy witnesses described the weapon as a pink camouflage knife, the police report said.

Both boys told police that Burley ran from the house after stabbing Mason, who police say suffered multiple stab wounds. An autopsy is pending.

A manhunt for Burley, 43, of Edinburg, Pa., ended Tuesday morning as U.S. marshals arrested him in Youngstown, Ohio.

Other details from New Castle News:

Burley faces charges of homicide; two counts each of aggravated assault, kidnapping to inflict terror and unlawful restraint; three counts of terroristic threats; four counts of recklessly endangering another person; and one count of simple assault.

Police say the deadly domestic incident was sparked when Burley had an argument with the dead boy’s 36-year-old mother — believed to have been his girlfriend.

Burley was on parole from a 1999 robbery shooting death, according to state police. He had pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and having a gun without a license. He served the minimum on a 20- to 40-year prison term in the case.

Burley was released from state prison in March.

 
Pennywise the evil clown in the 1990 TV series and the 2017 Movie.