Pakistan expresses concern over executions of war criminals in Bangladesh

Jamaat-e-Islami party has called for a strike on Monday.

Chowdhury was convicted on of charges of torture, rape and genocide during the country’s independence war against Pakistan, while Mujahid was found guilty on charges of genocide, conspiracy in killing intellectuals, torture and abduction.

“No-one will be spared if they tried to act violently”, said AKM Shahidul Hoque, inspector general of police, just ahead of the execution.

“I’ve waited for this day for a long 44 years”, said Shawan Mahmud, daughter of top musician Altaf Mahmud, who was killed by the notorious Al Badr militia that Mujahid was convicted of leading during the war.

About two hours after executions, ambulances carrying the bodies left the jail for Mojaheed and Chowdhury’s ancestral homes. A reporter sustained injuries and was rushed to hospital, while three others escaped unhurt.

Supporters of the ruling Awami League meanwhile greeted their executions by holding street parties and doling out candies to children.

It was not immediately clear who attacked the vehicle or why.

On Wednesday, a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha dismissed a petition review filed by Mojaheed and Chowdhury requesting the court to overturn its earlier decisions upholding the death penalty originally imposed by the global Crimes Tribunal.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said they were hanged after President Abdul Hamid rejected appeals for clemency by the two men. The families denied that the two men asked for mercy, according to a spokesman.

This is not the first time that Pakistan has voiced concern over the trial of 1971 “war criminals”.In December 2013, Pakistan National Assembly and Punjab Provincial Assembly adopted resolutions over the execution of Quader Mollah, prompting Dhaka to lodge a formal protestwith the Pakistan high commissioner to Bangladesh.

Mr Haq said that Islamabad had adopted silence on the execution of those people who had shown loyalty towards Pakistan and supported its soldiers in 1971 war.

Bangladesh has been on edge for the past 3-years after the government launched a probe into alleged war crimes committed by forces loyal to Pakistan, which controlled Bangladesh until 1971.

East Pakistan broke away to become independent Bangladesh after a war between India and Pakistan, which killed about three million people.

Chowdhury, a six-time member of parliament and senior adviser to former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, was sentenced for his role in a genocide and other killings.

The party openly campaigned against independence for Bangladesh during the war.

This week, five members of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee said in a letter to the State Department’s top South Asia official that the tribunal’s process was “deeply flawed” and said that members of the House panel were concerned by reports that “democratic space is shrinking” in Bangladesh.