<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">A court in southeastern Bangladesh today sentenced to death 39 activists of the ruling Awami League for brutally killing a fellow local level party leader four years ago.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></div>''<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br />''</div>''<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Ekramul Haque, the Upazila Awami League President, was hacked, shot and burnt alive by miscreants inside his car in broad daylight in Feni town's Academy area on May 20, 2014.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>''<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br />''</div>''<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">A prosecutor said the court handed down the death penalty to 39 people in this single case.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>''<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br />''</div>''<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">All the convicts were local leaders and activists of Awami League. He said the district judge's court, however, acquitted 16 people, one being a local leader of the main opposition BNP, though initially, he appeared to be the prime accused in the case.</div>''<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br />''</div>''<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Haque's brother Rezaul Haque Jasim had filed the murder case accusing BNP leader Minar and 30-35 unidentified people. A total of 44 arrests were made over the years and 15 of them confessed in court.</div>''<div class="yj6qo" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"></div>''<div class="adL" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"></div>