The Supreme Court of Bangladesh [5] on June 16 upheld the death sentence of Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed [6] for war crimes committed during the 1971 War of Liberation [7] against Pakistan. Mojaheed, the Secretary-General of Jamaat-e-Islami Party [8] (JI) was originally sentenced by the International Crimes Tribunal Bangladesh [9] (ICTB) on charges of kidnapping and murder during the war. Mojaheed could be hanged within months [10] if he does not get presidential clemency or another court review.
The ICTB, which was established in 2009 under the International Crimes Act [11], 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 [12] for torture and massacre in the Liberation War. In April a Bangladeshi appeals court rejected [13] a final appeal by Muhammad Kamaruzzaman [14], an Islamist party official convicted of war crimes during the Liberation War, upholding his death sentence. In February the ICTB convicted and sentenced [15] 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 [14] Islamist leader Adbus Subhan to death. In December the ICTB sentenced [16] the former Bangladeshi junior minister Syed Mohammad Qaisar to death for genocide and crimes against humanity.
From Jurist [17], June 16. Used with permission.
