A mutinous soldier of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) uses a loudhailer to speak to the media at their headquarters in Dhaka in this February 26, 2009 file photo. 
 
 Mutinous soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) stand inside their headquarters in Dhaka in this February 26, 2009 file photo. 
 
 Members of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) who are accused of a mutiny are summoned for a hearing before a special court in Dhaka in this July 12, 2010 file photo. 
 
 Members of Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) stand guard as prisoners look out from a window of a courthouse before the verdict for a 2009 mutiny is announced, in Dhaka November 5, 2013. 
 
 A prisoner reacts as police force him into a van after the verdict for a 2009 mutiny is announced, in Dhaka November 5, 2013. 
 
 A relative of a prisoner cries after the verdict for a 2009 mutiny is announced, in Dhaka November 5, 2013. 
 
 A prisoner reacts as police force him into a van after the verdict for a 2009 mutiny is announced, in Dhaka November 5, 2013. 
 
 A prisoner reacts as police force him into a van after the verdict for a 2009 mutiny is announced, in Dhaka November 5, 2013. 
 
 DHAKA A special court in Bangladesh on Tuesday sentenced to death more than 150 people among hundreds of border guards accused of murder and arson during a mutiny at their headquarters in 2009. 
 
 Some 850 people had been accused of involvement in the bloody rampage that broke out in the capital, Dhaka, and quickly spread to a dozen other towns, killing 74 people. 
 
 Prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain Kajol told Reuters the court sentenced 152 people to death. 
 
 "The court announced the death sentence to them for the heinous killing of the country's brave sons," he said. 
 
 Amid tight security, the court also sentenced 160 mutineers to life terms, including a former lawmaker of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and acquitted 171 soldiers. The rest got jail terms of up to 10 years and fines. 
 
 Grievances over different facilities for army and border guards led to the mutiny, Judge Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman said in comments accompanying the verdict. 
 
 "It also aimed to tarnish the image of the army in the outside world, where it has built up a reputation in performing U.N. peacekeeping duties," he added. 
 
 The mutiny shook the stability of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's newly elected government, which ended the revolt by negotiating a settlement. 
 
 The then chief of the roughly 48,000-strong paramilitary force was among those killed in the 33-hour rampage. Others included 57 top- and middle-ranking army officers deputed to the force, as well as several civilians. 
 
 After the mutiny, the paramilitary force was renamed the Border Guard Bangladesh instead of the Bangladesh Rifles. 
 
 The long-awaited verdict came nearly 5 years after the event. Four of the accused died in jail during the trial, with 20 more on the run and 13 free on bail while 813 remain in jail. 
 
 Bangladesh's handling of the trials has drawn criticism from rights groups such as New York-based Human Rights Watch, which has said the use of torture and other abuse to extract statements while in custody violated standards for fair trials. 
 
 The government has previously denied such accusations. 
 
 Political grievances were behind the life term given to one leader of the opposition BNP, party official Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, though he declined to comment on the verdict. 
 
 Defense lawyer Aminul Islam vowed to appeal against the judgment. "The verdict is nothing but a bid to gain political benefit," he said. 
 
 Prosecutor Kajol said the government would also appeal, against Tuesday's 171 acquittals. 
 
 The trial began in August 2011, with 801 force members and 23 civilians among those charged in 2010 after an investigation lasting more than a year. 
 
 About 4,000 people have already been found guilty of involvement in the mutiny, all in mass military trials. They have been jailed for up to seven years. 
 
 Junior law minister Kamrul Islam expressed satisfaction at Tuesday's verdict. 
 
 "It was a plot to overthrow the newly elected government and also to assassinate the prime minister," he told reporters. 
 
 Hasina, daughter of the country's founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, narrowly escaped the brutal fate of her father and other family members, who were killed in 1975 by a group of army officials while she and her only sister were abroad. 
 
 (Reporting by Serajul Quadir; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) ||||| Bangladesh to execute 152 soldiers for mutiny crimes 
 
 Many of those sentenced angrily protested their innocence inside and outside court 
 
 Continue reading the main story Related Stories 
 
 A court in Bangladesh has sentenced at least 152 soldiers to death over a bloody border guard mutiny in 2009. 
 
 More than 150 others, mostly border guards, were given life sentences. 
 
 Most of the 800 soldiers who packed the civilian court had already been jailed over the mutiny, but had not been tried for murder, torture and other charges. 
 
 The 30-hour revolt began over pay and other grievances and spread from Dhaka to bases around the country. It left 74 people dead, 57 of them officers. 
 
 While the army courts investigated breaches of military law - jailing nearly 6,000 troops - the maximum sentence they could pass was seven years. The civilian court could try people for much more serious crimes carrying the death penalty. 
 
 Some out of a group of 23 civilians were also found guilty of conspiracy charges. 
 
 Those convicted have the right to appeal, a process which could take many months given the number of cases. The prosecution said that it too would appeal in the cases of those who were acquitted. 
 
 BBC Bengali editor Sabir Mustafa says it will be very difficult for the authorities not to carry out the death sentences - to do otherwise would anger the army and send the wrong message to future would-be mutineers. 
 
 Our correspondent says public sentiment was initially sympathetic towards the mutineers, but turned against them once the mass killings became apparent. 
 
 Murder and torture 
 
 The mutiny began on 25 February, 2009 at the Bangladeshi Rifles headquarters in the capital. 
 
 Senior officers were killed and their bodies dumped in sewers and shallow graves before the mutineers surrendered. 
 
 Some of those convicted say they had nothing to do with the uprising 
 
 The sentences pronounced by the civilian court prompted stunned disbelief among the families of those convicted who gathered outside 
 
 The accused had little or no access to lawyers - campaigners say mass prosecutions are an affront to international legal standards 
 
 Officials say that they are satisfied with the sentences despite the protestations of many of those who were sentenced 
 
 New York-based Human Rights Watch has criticised the trial process, arguing that it has been deeply flawed 
 
 Dhaka's Metropolitan Sessions Court Judge Mohamed Akhtaruzzaman announced the verdicts in a packed courtroom surrounded by tight security 
 
 "The atrocities were so heinous that even the dead bodies were not given their rights," Judge Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman said as he read out the verdicts over several hours by using the serial numbers of defendants and their corresponding sentences. 
 
 Continue reading the main story The Bangladesh mutiny of 2009 Began principally because of resentment over pay and conditions - the average border guard at the time of the mutiny earned about $70 (£50) a month, equivalent to the wages of a low-ranking government clerk 
 
 Exactly why it became so violent - with senior officers and their family members shot in cold blood - is unclear. One theory is that resentment against the officer-class had reached boiling point 
 
 The mutineers stole around 2,500 weapons and broke into an annual meeting of top border defence officers before shooting them 
 
 The case is believed to be one of the largest of its type in the world, with hundreds of witnesses called for the trial that started in January 2011 
 
 The uprising briefly threatened to overthrow the newly-elected government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a country with a history of military-backed coups 
 
 Soon after the uprising was crushed, the government announced it was changing the law to allow mutiny to be a capital offence 
 
 The judge said that the soldiers should have been given better pay and privileges to defuse resentment, adding they could not afford to send their children to military-owned schools. 
 
 Several of those convicted screamed at the judge in rage, with one elderly soldier crying out: "I am innocent. You will face Allah's wrath." 
 
 "I don't need a life term. Hang me, hang me," another shouted. 
 
 The trial of the mutineers on Tuesday has been one of the biggest in Bangladesh's history. 
 
 It has also been one of the most sensitive, rivalled only by verdicts throughout this year by a tribunal investigating war crimes committed during the 1971 war of independence. 
 
 Of those being tried at the special makeshift courthouse, some 152 were sentenced to death, 159 given life sentences and the remainder received sentences of between three to 10 years. About 277 were acquitted. 
 
 But correspondents say that few of those acquitted will actually be able to walk free because their convictions by the military court still stand. 
 
 The trial process has been criticised by a human rights groups which says it was not credible - at least 50 suspects died in custody. A handful have also either escaped from custody or are on the run. 
 
 Members of the BDR, since renamed as Border Guards Bangladesh, say they revolted over demands for salaries in line with their army commanders. They also wanted to be deployed on lucrative UN peacekeeping missions, which come with generous benefits. 
 
 But the revolt over pay and conditions descended into an orgy of violence against their superiors. 
 
 The case exposed deep tensions between the government and the powerful military, who were angered over Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's decision to negotiate with the mutineers instead of allowing the army to attack. 
 
 Among those jailed for life are former Bangladesh Nationalist Party lawmaker Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu and regional Awami League leader Torab Ali, local media reported. ||||| A Bangladesh court sentenced 152 people to death Tuesday for a 2009 mutiny by disgruntled border guards who killed dozens of military commanders during a brutal, two-day uprising. 
 
 Handcuffed border guards arrive at a special court in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013. The Dhaka court is set to deliver verdicts involving a 2009 mutiny at the headquarters of the country's... (Associated Press) 
 
 Handcuffed border guards arrive at a special court in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013. The court in Bangladesh has sentenced 152 people to death for their actions in a 2009 border guard mutiny... (Associated Press) 
 
 Bangladeshi security officials stand guard outside a special court in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013. The court in Bangladesh has sentenced 152 people to death for their actions in a 2009 border... (Associated Press) 
 
 The sentences followed a mass trial involving 846 defendants _ a process criticized by a human rights group who said it was not credible and that at least 47 suspects died in custody. 
 
 The border guards, known at the time of the mutiny as the Bangladesh Rifles, say they revolted over demands for salaries in line with their commanders' in the army; assignments on U.N. peacekeeping missions, which come with generous perks; and better facilities. 
 
 The mutiny broke out on the border guards' leafy Dhaka compound, an oasis inside the city complete with its own rose garden and a small zoo. 
 
 By the time the insurrection ended, 74 people were dead, including 57 military commanders. Corpses were found stuffed inside manholes and buried in mass graves. 
 
 The case exposed deep tensions between the government and the military. The military was furious with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for negotiating with the mutineers instead of allowing the army to attack. In Bangladesh, a desperately poor South Asian nation with a history of catastrophe, army leaders have attempted to overthrow the government 21 times, twice successfully. 
 
 Dhaka's Metropolitan Sessions Court Judge Md Akhtaruzzaman announced the verdicts in a packed courtroom under tight security. 
 
 Besides the death sentences, 161 people were sentenced to life in prison; 256 people received prison terms between three and 10 years; and 277 people were acquitted. 
 
 Maj. Gen. Aziz Ahmed, director general of the Bangladesh Border Guards, said he was satisfied with the outcome. 
 
 "It was a huge massacre. We are glad that justice has been delivered," he said. 
 
 The defense vowed to appeal. 
 
 New York-based Human Rights Watch has criticized the legal proceedings and called for a new trial. The group said at least 47 suspects have died in custody while the suspects have had limited access to lawyers. 
 
 "Trying hundreds of people en masse in one giant courtroom, where the accused have little or no access to lawyers is an affront to international legal standards," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement on Oct. 29.
– A 2009 mutiny of disgruntled border guards seeking higher wages in Bangladesh resulted in 74 deaths; now far more than that are set to die. After a mass civilian trial that began in 2011 and involved 846 defendants, 152 border guards have been sentenced to execution, Reuters and the AP report. Some 161 others are getting life in prison, while 256 have been sentenced to three to 10 years. Another 277 were acquitted, though the BBC reports many of them were convicted in military tribunals and are unlikely to go free. Human Rights Watch criticized the proceedings, noting that 47 suspects died in custody. "Trying hundreds of people en masse in one giant courtroom, where the accused have little or no access to lawyers, is an affront to international legal standards." The defense plans an appeal, per the AP. The mutiny lasted 30 hours and saw 57 officers killed, with bodies tossed in sewers. "The atrocities were so heinous that even the dead bodies were not given their rights," said the judge as he read the verdicts, a process that took hours. But he did point out that the soldiers should have indeed been awarded better pay. In earlier military tribunals, some 4,000 people were found guilty and received sentences lasting up to seven years, Reuters reports.