- DHAKA: Bangladesh has set up a war crimes tribunal to try people accused of murder, torture, rape and arson during its 1971 independence war.
A Law Ministry statement Thursday named three high court judges to sit in the tribunal.
Bangladesh began war crimes trials in 1973, but they were halted in 1975 when the nation's independence leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was assassinated in a military coup.
Subsequent governments failed to address the issue, despite repeated calls for justice from war heroes and families of those slain.
Rahman's daughter, current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, pledged during her election campaign to prosecute war criminals. Last year, Parliament passed a resolution for their quick trial.
On the eve of the 39th anniversary of Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan,
Thursday, thousands of Bangladeshis gathered at the Dhaka university campus to pay tribute to the intellectuals and professionals killed during the independence war, on the eve of the 39th anniversary of Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan.