Bangladesh upholds death sentence for Jamaat leader

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence for a top leader of an Islamic party for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the country’s independence war against Pakistan in 1971.
A four-member panel headed by the country’s Chief Justice S.K. Sinha dismissed the appeal by Jamaat-e-Islami party’s Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed against a 2013 verdict sentencing him to death.
Mojaheed was convicted of five charges including murder, abduction and torture in 2013. The same year, the country’s High Court upheld the death sentence and Mojaheed then went to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
The 65-year-old will be hanged if the case is not reviewed by the same court or if he doesn’t get a presidential clemency.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said he was pleased with Tuesday’s verdict but defense counsel Khandaker Mahbub Hossain said Mojaheed did not get proper justice. Hossain said they would still seek a review of the decision.
Hours after the verdict, the Jamaat said in a statement it would enforce a 24-hour general strike starting at 6 a.m. on Wednesday across the country.
Jamaat-e-Islami has criticized the trial, saying it was meant to eliminate Islamic political opponents. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has dismissed the allegation and said it was for ensuring justice. Jamaat is the main political ally of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
Bangladesh blames Pakistani soldiers and local collaborators for the deaths of 3 million people during the nine-month war of independence from Pakistan.