Bangladesh upholds death penalty for opposition leader for 1971 war crimes

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury’s death sentence from the war tribunal set up to bring justice to victims during the Liberartion War of 1971 was upheld by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.

The court has “maintained” the death sentence for genocide and torture against 66-year-old Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, the first Hindu to head the top court in the country said, upholding a 2013 verdict by the worldwide Crimes Tribunal.

Chowdhury has previously served as an advisor to BNP leader and former prime minister Khaleda Zia.

Chowdhury was convicted for his role in the large-scale killing of Hindus and Awami League activists during the 1971 liberation war.

On November 1, 2013 the special tribunal had sentenced Chowdhury to death.

He is the second former Minister of Bangladesh to have the death sentence upheld by the top court, the other being Jamaat-e-islami leader Ali Hasan Mujahid.

Chowdhury has been provided by his family with a one-band radio under the jail regulations.

Hundreds of people staged “victory processions” as news of the verdict reached the capital’s Shahbagh Square, where they had been massing since dawn.

His trial was told that Chowdhury had dragged owner Nutan Chandra Sinha out of his prayer room and he had then been shot.

Police stepped up security in Dhaka and Chowdhury s home city of Chittagong before the judgement.

The BNP was weakened by a major crackdown earlier this year after it launched a three-month nationwide transport blockade to try to topple the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Many government opponents claim that the authorities use the war crimes tribunal as a tool to silence dissent.

Previous verdicts against Islamist politicians have sparked the country s deadliest political violence since independence.

The ruling clears the way for the man’s execution unless he gets presidential clemency.

Bangladesh has struggled to come to terms with its violent birth.

Bangladesh says Pakistani soldiers, aided by local collaborators, killed 3 million people and raped 200,000 women during the nine-month war that ended in December 1971.

Independent estimates put the death toll at between 300,000 and 500,000.

Son of the then Convention Muslim League party leader Fazlul Qader Chowdhury, Salauddin Quader Chowdhury was elected MP from different constituencies in Chittagong since 1979.

“I remember him (SQ Chowdhury) very well, he was a notorious member of the anti-liberation force”, said the veteran freedom fighter while talking to The Daily Star.

“We will file the review petition after getting the copy of the Supreme Court verdict”, Hossain said. I am no discard.