The Supreme Court of Bangladesh on June 16 upheld the death sentence of Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed for war crimes committed during the 1971 War of Liberation against Pakistan. Mojaheed, the Secretary-General of Jamaat-e-Islami Party (JI) was originally sentenced by the International Crimes Tribunal Bangladesh (ICTB) on charges of kidnapping and murder during the war. Mojaheed could be hanged within months if he does not get presidential clemency or another court review.

The ICTB, which was established in 2009 under the International Crimes Act, is charged with investigating and prosecuting war crimes committed during the 1971 conflict, in which about 3 million people were killed. Earlier in June, a Bangladeshi court gave Syed Mohammed Hasan Ali, a fugitive commander of an auxiliary force of Pakistani troops, a death sentence for torture and massacre in the Liberation War. In April a Bangladeshi appeals court rejected a final appeal by Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, an Islamist party official convicted of war crimes during the Liberation War, upholding his death sentence. In February the ICTB convicted and sentenced Abdul Jabbar, a militia leader and former lawmaker, to life in prison for genocide and religious persecution committed during the 1971 war. Earlier that month the tribunal convicted and sentenced Islamist leader Adbus Subhan to death. In December the ICTB sentenced the former Bangladeshi junior minister Syed Mohammad Qaisar to death for genocide and crimes against humanity.

From Jurist, June 16. Used with permission.