BANGLADESH

The High Court has questioned whether the government had taken adequate steps to save the eight Bangladeshis executed in Saudi Arabia. It also asked the government to respond within four weeks.

The bench of justices Farid Ahmed and Sheikh Hassan Arif questioned the government's role on Wednesday in response to a petition filed by rights body, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh.

The foreign secretary, overseas employment secretary, director of the Middle East affairs section of the foreign ministry, ambassador to Saudi Arabia and the labour council have been asked to respond.

The court also asked why it should not order the government to extend assistance to expatriates when they need it in future.

Eight Bangladeshis were beheaded in public in Riyadh on Oct 7 after they confessed robbing a warehouse and killing the Egyptian security guard, Hussein Saeed Mohammed Abdulkhaleq, in April 2007.

The Saudi Arabian ambassador to Bangladesh on Monday explained that the execution was carried out in line with 'the law of Saudi Arabia' based on 'their confession of the crime'.

Both the Saudi government and the Bangladesh embassy in Saudi Arabia said they could not secure clemency for the convicts, as the law states that only the victim's family can pardon such crime, and the family declined to oblige.

But rights bodies across the world have severely criticised the incident, with Amnesty International pointing out that the confessions might have been made under duress.

The court also ordered formation of two committees to probe the role of the Bangladeshi embassy in Saudi Arabia. The foreign secretary and the overseas employment secretary will form these committees. Reports will have to be submitted within eight weeks.

The court also asked the Bangladeshi ambassador to Saudi Arabia to submit a report, through the Supreme Court registrar within two weeks, detailing the steps they had taken to save the executed Bangladeshis.

Asaduzzaman Siddique filed the petition on Tuesday on behalf of Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh. Manzill Murshid argued for the petitioner on Wednesda