One of the most blatantly outrageous policies used by all Bangladeshi governments to date to legitimize human rights abuse has been to "indemnify" their own actions.
The military tribunals which were illegally set up to try the cases during Operation Clean Heart were later indemnified by Parliament, as were the individual actions of abuse and mistreatment by the Army during that time. What that means, in short, is that Army personnel could not be prosecuted for any rights abuses during the operation. I am no lawyer, but it may also mean that special tribunal verdicts could not be overturned by civil courts. That is even more shocking as there is no right to appeal to these special tribunals. I do know this is being challenged in the legal system right now, but am not sure as to the progress or even the jurisdiction of the civil courts over the military tribunals.
While the "speedy trial tribunal" is not likely a military tribunal, one wonders what is the appeal process (of course as you point out, the accused may not be able to afford a long appeal process). The use of extra-judicial tribunals only undermines the judicial system and inevitably results in gross violations of rights. Unfortunately it has become common practise in many countries, most recently in the US (on a limited scale) under the guise of the Patriot Act.
I don't know if the 14 year sentence has always been there, probably not, but it is an attempt to get tough on crime. That is needed but as you also point out, sentencing 2 people hardly does anything to stem the tide when thousands have illegal weapons.
On a personal note, a couple of years back I found out how difficult it is to renew a gun license and can see how easy it would be for average citizens who own a firearm to end up on the wrong side of the law.
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