More than 150 people were sentenced to death in Bangladesh for their part in a 2009 mutiny against their military commanders.

The mutiny over pay and better facilities left 74 people dead, including 57 commanders whose corpses were stuffed in sewers or dumped in shallow graves.

"The atrocities were so heinous that even the dead bodies were not given their rights," judge Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman said.

During the 30-hour mutiny members of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) stole 2,500 weapons and burst into a meeting of their commanders and killed them at close range.

Others were hacked to death or burned alive.

Resentment of senior BDR officers, who did not come up through the ranks of the rifles, was a major cause of the mutiny.

The huge mass trial saw 152 people sentenced to death and 161 to life in prison.

A further 256 were jailed for between three and 10 years while 277 were acquitted.

Defence lawyers vowed to appeal.

Human rights groups criticised the trial, arguing that trying 846 people at one time was too much.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said at least 47 suspects had died in custody.

"Trying hundreds of people en masse in one giant courtroom, where the accused have little or no access to lawyers, is an affront to international legal standards," said HRW Asia director Brad Adams.

Then newly elected Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina negotiated an end to the mutiny but authorities went on to arrest more than 6,000 BDR members and civilians.

Soldiers were tried, often hundreds at a time, by court martial - carrying a maximum sentence of seven years.

The rest were referred to Bangladesh's criminal court system to face more serious charges.

HRW said there were "credible" reports that suspects were tortured.

"If the government continues to ignore credible allegations of torture of BDR mutiny suspects, the culture of impunity in the country's security forces will simply continue," Mr Adams said.

"The government champions its supposed zero-tolerance for torture but in fact does nothing to make this talk reality."