Death sentence upheld for Bangladesh Islamist party chief

Nizami was a cabinet minister during former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s term from 2001 to 2006.

The government has blamed the increase in Islamist violence on the Jamaat-e-Islami but the party denies any link to the militant attacks.

Jamaat-e-Islami, which has said the charges against Nizami to be baseless, called for a nationwide strike on Thursday in protest.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division upheld his death in three charges, life imprisonment in two and acquitted him in three other charges, reported The Daily Star. “We’re very happy”, prosecutor Tureen Afroz said, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP), adding: “Most importantly, the death penalty was upheld for the killings of the intellectuals”.

Bangladesh says Pakistani soldiers, aided by local collaborators, killed 3 million people, raped 200,000 women and forced about 10 million people to take shelter in refugee camps across the border in India during the nine-month independence war.

Nizami filed an appeal challenging the death sentence and claimed himself innocent and sought to be cleared of the charges on 23 November, 2014. At the time, Jamaat-e-Islami had openly campaigned against independence.

“Following the SC verdict, it has been established that Nizami was involved in the killing of intellectuals and professions”, the attorney general said.

Previous verdicts against Jamaat leaders have led to violent clashes between Islamists and security forces, leading to some 500 deaths.

Defence lawyer Khandaker Mahbub Hossain said a review petition would be filed only after the defendant expresses willingness to do so. “It is sufficient to prevent any violence”, deputy police commissioner Maruf Hossain Sorder told AFP before the verdict.

Domestic support for the trials is strong despite global concerns over the fairness of the trials.

During the war in 1971, Nizami was heading the then student wing of Jamaat e Islami – Islami Chatra Sangha.