A special court in Bangladesh has sentenced 29 border guards to jail terms of up to seven years for their involvement in a bloody mutiny last year that killed 74 people, most of them army officers.
The verdicts announced Wednesday are the first since the mutiny last February. Officials say the shortest punishment given was four months in prison.
Overall, about 3,500 troops face charges from the rebellion at the Bangladeshi Rifles headquarters. Fifty seven army officers were among those killed.
Prosecutors say the mutiny was started in protest over low pay and poor treatment. After guards violently took control of their main barracks in Dhaka, the rebellion spread to other paramilitary outposts, shaking confidence in the government.
Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, VOA correspondent from Dhaka has more on this.