3 jailed for life over 2015 murder of Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella
BNP leader MA Kayum and his brother acquitted
A Dhaka court has sentenced three people to life imprisonment in the 2015 murder case of Italian citizen Cesare Tavella, a project manager at the Netherlands-based international NGO ICCO Cooperation.
Meanwhile, four others, including BNP leader MA Kayum and his brother, were acquitted due to a lack of evidence.
The verdict was delivered today by Judge Sheikh Shamidul Islam of Dhaka's Third Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Prosecutor Md Zahirul Islam Kayum confirmed the matter.
The convicts – Rusel Chowdhury, Minhazul Arefin Russel and Tamjid Ahmed – each fined Tk50,000 in addition to life sentences. Failure to pay the fine will result in an additional year of imprisonment.
Of the three convicted, all were present in court and were sent to jail with conviction warrants.
Among the seven accused, four were in jail, one was absconding, and two were on bail.
According to the case documents, Tavella, 50, was shot dead on the evening of 28 September 2015 while jogging along Road 90 in Gulshan. Assailants riding a motorcycle fired at him near the wall of the Governor's House. He was taken to United Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
According to the charge sheet, the murder was orchestrated to kill a white foreign national to spread fear domestically and internationally, thus damaging Bangladesh's image.
