Bangladesh Supreme Court rejects appeal against death penalty of JI leaders in 1971 war crimes
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DHAKA: Bangladesh's Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for a top Islamist party leader on Wednesday for atrocities committed during the country's war of independence from Pakistan more than four decades ago, a government lawyer said.
Four opposition politicians, including three leaders of the Islamist party, the Jamaat-e-Islami, have been convicted by a war crimes tribunal and executed since late 2013.
The executions have come amidst a rise in Islamist militant violence in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, with militant groups claiming the murder of two foreigners and four secular writers and a publisher last year.
The court rejected an appeal by Motiur Rahman Nizami, head of the Jamaat-e-Islami, who was sentenced to death in 2014 by the tribunal for genocide, rape and orchestrating the massacre of top intellectuals during the 1971 war.
"The court upheld the death sentence. We are happy with the verdict," state prosecutor Syed Haider Ali said.
Jamaat-e-Islami, which has said the charges against Nizami to be baseless, called for a nationwide strike on Thursday in protest. (Daily Star)
