Bangladesh Islamist party leader Motiur Rahman Nizami sentenced to death
October 29, 2014
A three-judge tribunal condemned Motiur Rahman Nizami to death on Wednesday for war crimes, a sentence that could spark renewed violence between Islamists and Bangladesh's secular government.
Nizami heads Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's largest Islamist party. He commanded the infamous Al-Badr militia during the South Asian nation's 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. An estimated three million people died during the conflict.
The Islamist leader was convicted on charges of complicity in the murders of Bangladeshi intellectuals during the conflict, including top professors, writers and doctors.
"The court observed that he is an Islamic scholar but he misinterpreted the Koran," prosecutor Haider Ali told reporters outside the court.
Fears of unrest
Security forces have been deployed through Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, to prevent unrest. Past convictions of Islamist officials for their role in the war sparked violent protests that led to dozens of deaths.
Bangladesh's secular governing party, the Awami League, established the International Crimes Tribunal in 2010 to prosecute people for crimes committed during the independence war. The Awami League supported independence, while Jamaat-e-Islami sided with Pakistan.
A predominantly Muslim nation with a population of 166 million, Bangladesh was ruled by Islamabad as East Pakistan until 1971.
slk/se (AFP, dpa)