DHAKA: Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence of a Jamaat-i-Islami leader for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the independence war against Pakistan in 1971.

A four-member panel, headed by Chief Justice S. K. Sinha, dismissed the appeal by Jamaat-i-Islami’s Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed.

He was convicted of five charges including murder, abduction and torture in 2013.

Also read: Bangladesh on alert after JI leader's execution

The same year, the High Court upheld the death sentence and Mojaheed appealed. The 65-year-old will be hanged if the case is not reviewed by the same court or if he doesn’t get a presidential clemency.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said he was pleased with the ruling, but defence counsel Khandaker Mahbub Hossain said Mojaheed did not get proper justice. Hossain said they would still seek a review of the decision.

Hours after the verdict, the Jamaat-e-Islami party said in a statement it would enforce a 24-hour general strike starting at 6am on Wednesday. Mojaheed was found guilty of “superior responsibility” and “criminal liability” in the 1971 atrocities. The original verdicts said Mojaheed was personally involved in systematic persecution of Hindus and that he led a systematic campaign to kill Bangladeshi intellectuals, including teachers and journalists.

Mojaheed fled after the war but returned after independence leader and then-President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated along with most of his family members in a military coup in 1975.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2015

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