“The judges were murdered at the instruction of Allah. We should be rewarded, not punished for following the order of killing judges,” Shaikh Abdur Rahman was quoted as saying by investigating officer Munshi Atiqur Rahman.

Authorities have accused Rahman’s Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) of staging a series of bombings, many of which targeted the judiciary.

At least 28 people, including lawyers, policemen and four suicide bombers, have been killed since last August in the attacks.

“Those who are engaged in man-made courts, especially lawyers, police and judges, will be punished in the court of Allah,” added Rahman, who was appearing in court in the southern town of Jhalokathi on Monday.

“Murder to those who are against Allah’s law,” he was quoted as saying.

The group wanted to overturn the country’s existing secular legal system dating back to the British colonial period and replace it with Islamic law.

Rahman was arrested earlier this year and is now standing trial for his alleged role in the killing of two judges at Jhalokathi last November.

Following the blasts, Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia conceded that her government, a four-party Islamist-allied coalition, had failed to spot the danger posed by Muslim militants and she vowed to root them out.

Khaled Saifullah, one of JMB’s seven-member ruling council who is also being tried in the case, told the court he led the team that planted the bombs.

“I have finished my task by leading a squad to kill the judges according to the instructions of Abdur Rahman,” he said, according to police.