Dhaka gives Islamic leader death sentence
Source: Agencies |
March 1, 2013, Friday
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A Bangladesh tribunal convicted an Islamist party leader and sentenced him to death yesterday, the third verdict by the court set up to investigate abuses during the country's independence war, triggering widespread protests by supporters in which at least 15 people were killed.
Delwar Hossain Sayedee, 73, vice-president of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was found guilty of mass killing, rape, arson, looting and forcing minority Hindus to convert to Islam during the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.
The religious party, known simply as Jamaat, had called for a day-long countrywide strike in anticipation of the verdict against Sayedee, the third senior party member convicted by the tribunal.
Police, witnesses and media reports said at least 15 people were killed and around 200 wounded in clashes between Jamaat activists and police as violence erupted in more than a dozen districts.
Protesters set fire to a Hindu temple and several houses in Noakhali district south of Dhaka. In southeastern Cox's Bazar, they attacked a police camp.
In Dhaka, authorities deployed extra police and members of a rapid response force and put paramilitary soldiers on standby, the Home Ministry said.
Thousands of people in the capital's Shahbag square, who support the tribunal and have been protesting for weeks to demand the highest penalty for war criminals, burst into cheers as the sentence was announced.
Sayedee looked defiant and remained calm in the dock as judges read out the verdict.
"I didn't commit any crime and the judges are not giving the verdict from the core of their heart," Sayedee told the court. "They are submitting to the excessive pressure from Shahbag," he said, referring to the protests.
State prosecutor Haider Ali said he was happy with the verdict which he said "appropriately demonstrated justice."
Defense attorney Abdur Razzak said the sentence was politically motivated. "He is a victim of sheer injustice. We will appeal," he said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina set up the tribunal in 2010 to investigate abuses during the war that claimed about 3 million lives and during which thousands of women were raped.
The tribunal has been criticized by rights groups for failing to adhere to international standards of due process. Critics say the tribunal is being used by the prime minister as an instrument against her opponents in the two biggest opposition parties, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami. Begum Khaleda Zia, Hasina's arch rival and leader of the BNP, has called the tribunal a farce.
Hasina's party has denied allegations of bias.
On January 21, the tribunal sentenced Abul Kalam Azad, a former Jamaat member, to death in absentia after he was found guilty of torture, rape and genocide during the independence war. On February 5, the tribunal sentenced another senior Jamaat member, Abdul Quader Mollah, 64, to life in prison after he was found guilty of murder, rape, torture and arson.
Delwar Hossain Sayedee, 73, vice-president of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was found guilty of mass killing, rape, arson, looting and forcing minority Hindus to convert to Islam during the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.
The religious party, known simply as Jamaat, had called for a day-long countrywide strike in anticipation of the verdict against Sayedee, the third senior party member convicted by the tribunal.
Police, witnesses and media reports said at least 15 people were killed and around 200 wounded in clashes between Jamaat activists and police as violence erupted in more than a dozen districts.
Protesters set fire to a Hindu temple and several houses in Noakhali district south of Dhaka. In southeastern Cox's Bazar, they attacked a police camp.
In Dhaka, authorities deployed extra police and members of a rapid response force and put paramilitary soldiers on standby, the Home Ministry said.
Thousands of people in the capital's Shahbag square, who support the tribunal and have been protesting for weeks to demand the highest penalty for war criminals, burst into cheers as the sentence was announced.
Sayedee looked defiant and remained calm in the dock as judges read out the verdict.
"I didn't commit any crime and the judges are not giving the verdict from the core of their heart," Sayedee told the court. "They are submitting to the excessive pressure from Shahbag," he said, referring to the protests.
State prosecutor Haider Ali said he was happy with the verdict which he said "appropriately demonstrated justice."
Defense attorney Abdur Razzak said the sentence was politically motivated. "He is a victim of sheer injustice. We will appeal," he said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina set up the tribunal in 2010 to investigate abuses during the war that claimed about 3 million lives and during which thousands of women were raped.
The tribunal has been criticized by rights groups for failing to adhere to international standards of due process. Critics say the tribunal is being used by the prime minister as an instrument against her opponents in the two biggest opposition parties, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami. Begum Khaleda Zia, Hasina's arch rival and leader of the BNP, has called the tribunal a farce.
Hasina's party has denied allegations of bias.
On January 21, the tribunal sentenced Abul Kalam Azad, a former Jamaat member, to death in absentia after he was found guilty of torture, rape and genocide during the independence war. On February 5, the tribunal sentenced another senior Jamaat member, Abdul Quader Mollah, 64, to life in prison after he was found guilty of murder, rape, torture and arson.
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