NEW DELHI: A special tribunal for crimes during Bangladesh’s independence war sentenced a former lawmaker to death and seven others to life in prison on Wednesday on charges of murder and other crimes.

The tribunal sentenced Sakhawat Hossain, a former member of parliament with the Jamaat-i-Islami, to death. He and one other defendant were present in the court, while the six others were tried in absentia.

They must remain in prison until their deaths, a harsher punishment than life in prison, which spans 30 years in Bangladesh.

Hossain was a central committee member of the Islami Chhatra Sangha, the student wing of Jamaat-i-Islami at the time, and was accused of being a local commander of a group that aided government soldiers. He left Jamaat-i-Islami and joined the Bangladesh Nationalist Party headed by former prime minister Khaleda Zia.

In recent years he has been involved with the Jatiya Party, headed by former military dictator H.M. Ershad. His lawyers said they would file an appeal against the verdict.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina initiated the prosecution of suspected war criminals in 2010 by forming the tribunal.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2016