DHAKA: Bangladesh’s top court has ruled that border guards who killed scores of army officers during a mutiny in February should not be tried under military law, the country’s law minister said today. Bangladesh president Zillur Rahman had sought the Supreme Court’s opinion on how more than 3,000 mutineers should be prosecuted, with the country’s powerful armed forces pressing for the rebel guards to face military trials. “The Supreme Court has given its opinion against the trial of the BDR mutiny under the army act,” law minister Shafiq Ahmed told reporters. The Supreme Court has also sought opinion from 10 of the country’s top lawyers, with seven opposing military trials. Seventy-four people, including 57 senior army officers, were killed in the bloody siege at the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters in Dhaka. The stand-off ended after a 33-hour confrontation with the rank-and-file guards, who reportedly fled the scene in civilian dress. Most of them are now in custody charged with sedition. The revolt raised fears for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s newly elected civilian government, which came to power in January after two years of military-backed rule in the South Asian country. At least 41 border guards have died since the mutiny but the BDR early this week denied allegations by local human rights groups that some of the deaths were the result of torture. Rights groups have also expressed fears that the mutineers will not receive fair trials if they are tried under the army act.