The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Jamaat-e-Islami party

  • Bangladesh Islamist leader executed

    Bangladesh has executed the Islamist leader Abdul Kader Mullah, who was convicted of atrocities committed during the 1971 war of independence with Pakistan.

    BBC reports that He was the first person convicted by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) to be executed.

    The ICT was set up in 2010 to investigate abuses committed during the 1971 conflict.

    Mullah was a senior leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party.

    At his trial earlier this year, he was described by prosecutors as the “Butcher of Mirpur,” a suburb of Dhaka where he is alleged to have carried out his crimes.

    These included the massacre of unarmed civilians and the killing of intellectuals who supported independence from Pakistan.

    Mullah always denied the charges.

    Four other leading figures in Jamaat-e-Islami have also been convicted by the ICT and face the death penalty.

    The execution of Abdul Kader Mullah took place at Dhaka Central Jail at 22:01 local time (16:01 GMT) on Thursday evening, officials announced.

    His family were allowed a final meeting with the 65-year-old and found him “calm.”

    “He told us that he is proud to be a martyr for the cause of the Islamic movement in the country,” his son, Hasan Jamil, told the AFP after the meeting.

    Hundreds of people gathered in central Dhaka to celebrate the news of his death.

    But Jamaat-e-Islami – which has warned it will avenge his death – called for a general strike on Sunday.

     

  • Bangladesh court upholds Islamist leader’s execution

    Bangladesh court upholds Islamist leader’s execution

    Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of an Islamist leader, Abdul Kader Mullah.

    The judge dismissed his appeal, saying it paves the way for his execution.

    BBC reports that Mullah had been scheduled to be executed on Tuesday, before gaining a reprieve. No new date has been set.

    He was convicted in February of crimes against humanity during the country’s 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. The senior leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party denies the charges.

    Jamaat said that the trial is politically motivated.

    “There is now no legal bar to execute him,” Attorney-General Mahbubey Alam told AFP news agency in the court, amid applause by pro-government lawyers.

    Mr. Alam said that Mullah had exhausted all avenues of appeal and did not have any right to seek clemency from the president. But Mullah’s lawyers have disputed his conclusions.

    His trial earlier this year sparked protests from Jamaat supporters. They accused the government of pursuing a political vendetta which has resulted in the imprisonment of several of the party’s senior leaders.

    Security was stepped up in Dhaka in advance of Thursday’s ruling.

     

  • Death penalty for Bangladeshi Islamist leader

    Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of an Islamist leader against his jail term for war crimes and sentenced him to death.

    In February Abdul Kader Mullah, of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was convicted by a special tribunal of crimes during the 1971 war of independence with Pakistan.

    BBC reports that the life sentence imposed at the time sparked angry street protests.

    His supporters said the charges were politically motivated but his opponents said that sentence was too lenient.

    Thousands staged vigils in Dhaka demanding the death penalty for Mullah, who had been convicted of charges which included overseeing massacres during the bloody struggle for independence.

    The protests prompted parliament to amend a law which allowed the state to appeal against any verdict reached by the war crimes tribunal.

    This meant that alongside Mullah’s appeal against his verdict the Supreme Court also heard an appeal from the government which wanted a tougher sentence handed down.

    Prosecutor Ziad Al Malum told AFP news agency that the decision to increase the sentence was approved by four to one at the court.

    Defence lawyer Tajul Islam told the agency he was “stunned” by the verdict.

    “This is the first time in South Asian judicial history that a trial court sentence has been enhanced by a Supreme Court,” he said.

     

  • Bangladesh Islamist sentenced to death

    The deputy head of Bangladesh’s opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party has been sentenced to death by the country’s war crimes tribunal, BBC reports.

    Muhammad Kamaruzzaman was found guilty on five out of seven counts of torture and mass murder committed during the 1971 war of independence.

    The nine-month war of secession from Pakistan killed as many as three million people.

    The tribunal was set up in 2010 to try people accused of collaboration.

    Jamaat-e-Islami accused the government of using the proceedings to curb the opposition’s activities ahead of elections scheduled for next year.

    International rights groups, meanwhile, say the tribunal falls short of international standards.

    The conviction comes at a testing time for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has made prosecution of 1971 war crimes one of her government’s key goals.

    Analysts say the death sentence will only exacerbate an already febrile situation in a country where police and Islamist protesters have this week been fighting deadly battles on the streets of the capital Dhaka.

    The umbrella organisation behind the protests – of which Jamaat is a part – is calling for the introduction of more Islamic laws, and has shown it can easily mobilise vast numbers onto the streets.