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Bangladesh opposition leader sentenced to death

Iran Press TV

Tue Oct 1, 2013 9:20AM GMT

A special tribunal in Bangladesh has sentenced the leader of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to death over his alleged war crimes during the 1971 liberation war.

According to the verdict delivered Tuesday, Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, also a leader of Jamaat-e-Islami party, was indicted for crimes against humanity, he committed along with the Pakistani army, during Bangladesh liberation war against Pakistan in 1971.

Earlier, the International Crimes Tribunal had convicted Chowdhury of 23 charges of crimes, during 1971 independence fight.

The BNP leader, however, denied all the charges against him, criticizing the trial as “politically motivated.”

The 64-year-old Chowdhury was arrested on December 16, 2010, after he was accused of war crimes, including direct involvement in torture and the killing of around 200 civilians, as well as looting, religious and political persecution.

Chowdhury is the second accused to be indicted for war crimes, since the war crimes tribunal established by the Bangladeshi Awami League-led government in 2010.

In September, the country’s Supreme Court sentenced the assistant Secretary-General of Jamaat-e-Islami Abdul Quader Mollah to life imprisonment, revising his initial death penalty, issued by the war crimes tribunal.

In the meantime, security measures have increased around the International Crimes Tribunal ahead of the ruling, as there had been some anonymous threats of violence across the country, if Chowdhury were sentenced to death.
The threats came up after his case was wrapped up by the tribunal in August.

“We have asked police forces to be alert as a routine exercise ahead of the verdict,” a police spokesman said.

According to Bangladeshi officials, almost 3 million people were killed in Bangladesh war of Independence in 1971. During the liberation war, Jamaat-e-Islami opposed the breakup of Pakistan and cooperated with the Pakistani army against the independence of the South Asian country, committing heinous crimes against humanity.

MM/HN