Bangladesh executes opposition leaders for war crimes

Bangladesh’s Attorney General Mahbubey Alam (C) leaves the Supreme Court in Dhaka after the court’s verdict on appeals by two opposition leaders, November 18, 2015.

During a news briefing at Jatiya Press Club, the forum leaders demanded that the government raise the issue in global and regional forums and take into consideration whether Bangladesh should keep on maintaining diplomatic ties with Pakistan.

He reiterated that Jamaat-e-Islami would bring a true Islamic revolution with the support of masses, which would pave the way for resolution of all problems and crises the country was facing.

“We’re against the death penalty and unfair trials whether in Pakistan, Bangladesh or elsewhere”, she said, adding that everybody knew that the trial of the two Bangladeshi politicians was flawed, but the role of Pakistan was something which was not understandable.

Bangladesh was on high alert Monday against any violence in response to Sunday’s hangings, with thousands of security personnel patrolling its cities.

The 67-year-old Mujahid was sentenced to death for war crimes such as the killing of the country’s top intellectuals.

With Sunday’s executions, Bangladesh has hanged a total of four war crimes convicts so far.

This was the third occasion when Bangladesh summoned Pakistani envoy after it initiated a belted process in 2010 to expose to justice the 1971 war criminals. Bangladesh’s government says Pakistani soldiers, aided by local collaborators, killed 3 million people and raped 200,000 women during the fighting.

Jamaat called a nationwide strike on Thursday, declaring Mujahid’s original trial “farcical” and “aimed at eliminating” the party’s leadership. While traffic was lighter on Monday, government offices and services remained open.

On Sunday, a reporter was shot and wounded after covering one of the men’s funerals.

There are fears the executions could spark fresh unrest in the Muslim-majority nation, which is reeling from a string of killings of secular bloggers as well as the murders of two foreigners in recent months. Three other journalists in the vehicle escaped unhurt, and Sen was rushed to a hospital in Chittagong.

It was not immediately clear who attacked the auto or why. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which opposed the execution, blamed Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, for what they believe was a politically-motivated execution.

Jamaat-e-Islam leader Abdul Quader Molla was the first to walk to the gallows in December 2013 while another leader of the same party, Mohammad Kamaruzzaman, was executed in April this year.