Eight Islamic extremists have been sentenced to death in Bangladesh for killing a publisher, AFP reported.

Faisal Arefin Dipan, 43, owner of a publishing house in Dhaka that has produced several atheistic books, was hacked to death in October 2015.

The attack was part of a wave of violence between 2013 and 2016 against secular activists, bloggers, and atheist writers.

A judge now found all eight accused guilty.

Two of them are still at large and have been sentenced in absentia.