DHAKA: Some 800 Bangladeshi soldiers were due in court on Wednesday accused of murder and other serious offences during a bloody 2009 mutiny in which scores of army officers were massacred.
During the uprising, which lasted about 30 hours, 74 people including 57 senior army officers, were killed at a military base in the capital Dhaka.
The Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) soldiers turned on their commanders, hacking them to death, torturing them and burning them alive before hiding their bodies in sewers.
The mutineers stole an estimated 2,500 weapons and broke into an annual meeting of top BDR officers and shot them at point blank range. The BDR's head, Major General Shakil Ahmed, was among those killed.
They also stormed Ahmed's house on the base and killed his wife, domestic staff and guests, before setting fire to the building and stealing valuables including gold jewellery.
Wednesday's pre-trial hearing came after hundreds of other BDR soldiers involved in the nationwide rebellion were earlier convicted on minor charges in special military-run courts.
As the mutiny in February 2009 spread to BDR bases across Bangladesh, it briefly threatened the new government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, which had been elected only one month previously.
The cause of the violence is uncertain but resentment by soldiers against BDR generals -- who do not come from within the BDR -- is widely seen as the main factor.
All accused, 800 soldiers plus 20 civilians, were due to appear at a specially-built temporary court in Dhaka. Those accused of murder face the death penalty if convicted.
The charges range from murder to conspiracy, looting military weapons and arson.
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