In a 171-page judgment, district and sessions judge Kazi Golam Rasul acquitted four others -- three former Army officials and former Information Minister in the post-Independence Sheikh Mujib Government Taheruddin Thakur, the only civilian accused in the murder case -- for lack of evidence.

The court delivered the judgment in the presence of five accused while others, still at large, were tried in absentia in a trial lasting nearly two years in a packed court room under unprecedented security measures.

``The 15 have been found guilty of being directly involved in the death of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family and have been sentenced to death by the firing squad,''judge Rasul said, adding ``they deserve no mercy.''

``They have not only shot andkilled the then President Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family but have shown arrogance after the killings. They should be executed publicly,'' Rasul said.

The 15 who were sentenced to death are Col (retd) Syed Farooqur Rahman, Lt Col (retd) Sulatan Shariyar Rashid Khan, Lt col (retd) Muhiuddin Khan, Col (retd) Khandaker Abdur Rashid, Lt col (retd) Aziz Pasha, Maj (retd) Shariful Haq Dalim, Maj (retd) Bazlul Huda, Maj (retd) Noor Chowdhury, Maj (retd) Mohiuddin, Maj (retd) Rashed Chowhury, Maj (retd) Ahmed Sharful Hasan, Capt (retd) Majed, Lt (retd) Nazmul Ansar, Risalder (retd) Moslemuddin and Capt (retd) Kismat Hashem.

Describing the killing of Mujib as brutal and harmful act not only for the State but also for the society, the judge said if death sentence could not be carried out through firing squad, it should be done in the conventional way.

The judge said those who have been awarded death penalty can move the higher court against his judgment.Most of those accused went into hidingabroad soon after Sheikh Hasina led her Awami League back to power in 1996 general elections.

The defendants who were present in the court looked composed and were seen hearing with rapt attention as judge Rasul read out his judgment. After the court verdict, the accused were taken away to the nearby maximum security Dhaka central jail. Two of the accused -- Farooqur Rahman and Sultan Shariyar Rashid -- refused to comment on the verdict.