A decade after Holey Artisan attack, convicts’ appeals still unresolved

A decade after the Holey Artisan Bakery attack shocked Bangladesh and drew global attention, the country’s deadliest militant assault remains without a final legal conclusion.

The convicted militants’ leave-to-appeal petitions are yet to be heard by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, leaving the case unresolved 10 years after the attack.

The fate of the convicts therefore remains uncertain, with no date yet fixed for hearing the appeals.

Attorney General Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kazal told The Daily Waadaa on Wednesday “The Holey Artisan attack was a tragic one. The trial of this case is not only a matter of domestic importance for Bangladesh, but also carries significance in the international arena.

“Keeping that in mind, we will take initiatives to ensure an expedited hearing.”

More than a year after the High Court published its full verdict, hearings on the appeals have yet to begin, with lawyers citing the Supreme Court’s mounting backlog and the convicts’ financial inability to pursue the cases promptly.

Nahidul Islam, who represented all the accused as the defence lawyer, told the Daily Waadaa at 5:00pm on July 1 that the accused are so financially disadvantaged that it is actually not possible to handle the case on their behalf.

"The trial court had sentenced the accused to death. Later, after the appeal hearing, the High Court commuted their sentences to life imprisonment. The accused filed appeals in 2025, but the matter has not yet come up for hearing in the Appellate Division," the defence lawyer also mentioned. 

Six convicts, whose death sentences were commuted to imprisonment until death by the High Court in 2023, filed separate leave-to-appeal petitions in May 2025 seeking acquittal.

“If the Appellate Division proceeds according to the existing hearing schedule, disposal of these petitions may take several more years,” defence lawyer Advocate Md Nahidul Islam told the media.

He said the Appellate Division is currently hearing similar petitions filed in 2019, highlighting the extent of the backlog.

The six convicts, now held at Kashimpur High Security Central Jail, have challenged the High Court verdict, alleging their confessional statements were extracted through torture while in custody.

“The prosecution failed to establish the direct involvement of the accused through reliable evidence. The convictions were based largely on confessional statements recorded under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, said Nahidul.

 “One of the few independent witnesses was a 13-year-old boy who himself had been detained in another militancy-related case when he testified,” he added, outlining the grounds of the appeals.

What happened

On July 1, 2016, at around 8:45pm, five young militants armed with firearms, machetes and grenades stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka’s Gulshan diplomatic zone, taking diners hostage.

The attackers were Nibras Islam, Shafiqul Islam alias Ujjal, Mir Sameh Mobasher, Rohan Ibne Imtiaz and Khairul Islam alias Payel.

During the nearly 12-hour siege, they killed 20 civilians—nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian and three Bangladeshis.

Two police officers—Detective Branch Assistant Commissioner Rabiul Islam and Banani Police Station Officer-in-Charge Salahuddin Khan—were also killed by militant explosives while attempting to rescue the hostages.

The siege ended the following morning when army commandos launched Operation Thunderbolt, killing all five attackers and rescuing 13 hostages alive.

Police filed the case under the Anti-Terrorism Act, with then Sub-Inspector Ripon Kumar Das lodging it with Gulshan Police Station on July 4, 2016.

After more than two years of investigation, the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit submitted its charge sheet on July 23, 2018.

Investigators said Neo-JMB, a breakaway faction of the banned Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, had spent six months planning the attack with the aim of destabilising Bangladesh and turning it into a “militant state.”

The trial formally began on November 26, 2018, after charges were framed against eight accused.

Testimony started on December 3 with the deposition of the complainant, Sub-Inspector Ripon Kumar Das.

During the trial, the prosecution examined 113 of 211 listed witnesses, including the investigating officer, before closing arguments concluded on November 17, 2019.

On November 27, 2019, Dhaka’s Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal sentenced seven Neo-JMB members to death for their roles in the attack.

The convicts were Jahangir Hossain alias Rajib Gandhi, Rakibul Hasan Regan, Aslam Hossain alias Rash, Abdus Sobur Khan alias Soheil Mahfuz, Hadisur Rahman, Shariful Islam alias Khalid and Mamunur Rashid Ripon.

On October 30, 2023, the High Court commuted the death sentences to imprisonment until natural death and fined each convict 50,000 taka.

The detailed 229-page judgment was uploaded to the Supreme Court website on June 17, 2025.

The High Court bench of Justice Shahidul Karim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman held that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the five militants who carried out the attack killed 22 people before being killed during the commando operation.

The court said that had the five attackers survived, they could have been convicted under Section 6(1)(a) of the Anti-Terrorism Act and sentenced to death under Section 6(2)(a).

The bench found that the trial court had erred in imposing death sentences on the seven other accused on the basis of common intention because they were not present at the scene.

However, it ruled that the prosecution had proved their involvement in planning the attack, conspiring, raising funds, procuring weapons, recruiting members and instigating the killings.

In its judgment, the court observed: “Considering the brutality of the murder, the overall cruel behavior of the terrorists on the spot at the time of the incident and the tarnishing of the image of Bangladesh in the outside world, we think that justice will be ensured if each of them is sentenced to life imprisonment till natural death.”

One of the convicts, Aslam Hossain Rash, was shot dead by prison guards at Kashimpur High Security Central Jail on August 6, 2024, following the political upheaval of August 5.

What defence says

Asked about the latest status of the appeals, defence lawyer Md Ariful Islam said the convicts had not contacted him after the High Court verdict.

“As far as I know, they have filed the leave-to-appeal petitions, but I don’t think the Appellate Division has granted them for hearing yet,” he said, adding that clients in criminal cases rarely contact their lawyers before hearing dates are fixed.

Ariful said the government may not consider the matter urgent because the harshest available punishment has already been imposed. He also pointed to the Supreme Court’s heavy backlog, saying additional benches are needed to reduce the caseload.

Lawyer Nahidul had earlier told the media that the leave-to-appeal petitions filed in 2019 are still being heard, indicating that the Holey Artisan appeals may take several more years to reach a final hearing.

He said the convicts had already sought acquittal through their petitions but lacked the financial means to engage senior counsel before the Appellate Division.

Nahidul also questioned the legal basis for the sentences, arguing that the relevant provision of the Anti-Terrorism Act did not apply to the case and that imprisonment until natural death is not expressly provided for under the law.

He further alleged that some confessional statements recorded under Section 164 were obtained by exerting pressure on the accused through their family members and questioned the reliability of a key child witness whose testimony was relied upon during the trial.