A four-member Appellate Division bench of the Bangladesh Supreme Court – led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha – dismissed the review petitions of Bangladesh Jamaat-i-Islami Party former secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid and Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, a leader of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
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The attorney general noted that two top-ranking leaders of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, which opposed the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, were executed after all legal procedures were completed.
Two other opposition officials on death row were swiftly hanged after their final appeals were rejected and they refused to approach the president, saying they did not recognize Hasina’s government.
Lawyers said the pair were unlikely to seek mercy because it would require them to admit their war-time guilt.
Separately, unidentified gunmen shot and wounded an Italian priest in northern Bangladesh on Wednesday, just weeks after two foreigners were killed in similar attacks blamed on hardliners, police said.
The tribunal established in 2010 has so far convicted 24 people of crimes against humanity and genocide during the nine-month war with Pakistan in 1971 that resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of people.
Islamic State militants have claimed responsibility for earlier attacks on foreigners.
Both men, convicted of war crimes, are only left with the option of seeking a presidential pardon.
The convictions triggered the country’s deadliest violence since independence, with 500 people killed, mainly in clashes between Jamaat activists and police.
“Immediately after the apex court verdict, authorities fearing violence by supporters of two opposition leaders shut down Facebook, Viber and WhatsApp aimed at preventing Jamaat supporters mobilising to protest against the ruling”.
Defence counsel for Mujahid were intimidated and arrested, the commission said this week citing reports, while premier Hasina’s reported call to “try the war criminals quickly” raised concerns over whether due process had been observed.
No Peace Without Justice, a non-profit organisation based in Italy, has called the tribunal’s proceedings “a weapon of politically influenced revenge whose real aim is to target the political opposition”.
The government denies the accusations.
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“Justice and accountability for the bad crimes committed during Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence are crucial, but trials need to meet worldwide fair trial standards”, said Brad Adams, Asia director.
