Hundreds of police had been stationed outside Dhaka Central Jail where scaffolds had been prepared to execute the two by hanging.
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Chowdhury was convicted on charges of torture, rape and genocide during the country’s independence war against Pakistan, while Mujahid was found guilty on charges of genocide, conspiracy in killing intellectuals, torture and abduction.
After news of the execution broke, supporters of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League took to the streets to celebrate and also unfurled national flags near the prison.
Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid (left) is the second most senior member of Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami. Both men were convicted [BBC report] by the global Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh (ICTB)[official website], a domestic war crimes tribunal created to investigate and try Bangladeshi suspects for their role in war crimes committed during the war of independence, in 2013.
President Abdul Hamid rejected appeals for clemency by the two men on Saturday night prior to their execution. The Jamaat-e-Islami, a major opposition party, had its roots in the pro-Pakistan radical groups – the Razakaars, Al-Badr and Al-Shams.
Nevertheless, authorities said they were increasing vigilance after a series of killings claimed by Islamist extremists this year, including the murders of four secular bloggers, a publisher and two foreigners.
Jamaat called a nationwide strike on Thursday, declaring Mujahid’s original trial “farcical” and “aimed at eliminating” the party’s leadership. “All human rights activists, including the HRCP, have expressed concern over the unfair trial of the BNP leaders”, she added.
Mojaheed, a leader of Jamat-e-Islami, and SQ Chowdhury, a leader of BNP, were sentenced to death by the global Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh on charges of war crimes and genocide, said the statement.
“Equal passion, we hope, will be shown by the government for the people on death row in Pakistan than being hanged elsewhere in the world by denying due process”, Dawn quoted her saying. He was caustic about the prosecution, remarking at one point that of the 3 million people killed during the 1971 war, “you say I have killed 2 million”.
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The spokesperson in a press briefing note issued from Geneva said the United Nations opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances, even for the most serious worldwide crimes.
