A court in Bangladesh has sentenced 19 people to death for their role in a deadly grenade attack on a 2004 political rally in the capital 
The convicts include a former minister and a deputy minister. Both of them are leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party which was then in power.
The party’s current acting head, Tarique Rehman, was convicted to life in jail in absentia. The grenade attack at the Awami League rally had claimed 24 lives. Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina is now the country’s Prime Minister.
Hundreds more were injured in the blast of 21st August 2004 as Sheikh Hasina was about to finish a speech in front of thousands of supporters.