A Bangladeshi court has sentenced a senior Islamist leader to death for war crimes committed during the 1971 independence war from Pakistan.
Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, 65, the secretary-general of the Jamaat-e Islami party, was convicted on July 17 on charges of genocide, murder, conspiracy, and complicity in atrocities.
His defense attorneys say they will appeal.
To protest the verdict, Jamaat-e Islami called for a general strike across the country.
On July 15, the government-commissioned International Criminal Tribunal convicted another Jamaat-e Islami leader for war crimes. Ghulam Azam was sentenced to 90 years in prison.
The Bangladeshi government estimates the Pakistani Army and local collaborators, such as Jamaat-e Islami, killed some 3 million people and raped some 200,000 women during the war, though those figures are disputed by independent researchers.
Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, 65, the secretary-general of the Jamaat-e Islami party, was convicted on July 17 on charges of genocide, murder, conspiracy, and complicity in atrocities.
His defense attorneys say they will appeal.
To protest the verdict, Jamaat-e Islami called for a general strike across the country.
On July 15, the government-commissioned International Criminal Tribunal convicted another Jamaat-e Islami leader for war crimes. Ghulam Azam was sentenced to 90 years in prison.
The Bangladeshi government estimates the Pakistani Army and local collaborators, such as Jamaat-e Islami, killed some 3 million people and raped some 200,000 women during the war, though those figures are disputed by independent researchers.
