Bangladesh’s apex court has upheld the death penalty for a top opposition party leader for war crimes including mass killings during the country’s war of independence 43 years ago.
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Chowdhury is the second former minister to have the death sentence upheld after Jamaat-e-Islami’s Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid, who has already been hanged.
The tribunal found Salauddin Quader, son of Pakistan Convention Muslim League president Fazlul Quader Chowdhury, guilty of the crimes of genocide at Rauzan and murder of minority Hindu community members, including Nutan Chandra Singh, the founder of Kundeshwari Owsadhalay of Gohira, Awami League leaders and supporters of Bangladesh’s war of independence.
Bangladesh Supreme Court today upheld the death sentence of Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury for crimes against humanity during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
Chowdhury has previously served as an advisor to BNP leader and former prime minister Khaleda Zia.
Defence lawyer Khandaker Mahbub Hossain said Chowdhury’s legal team would seek a review of yesterday’s ruling. Paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) troops have been deployed to thwart any untoward incident after the verdict against Chowdhury, member of BNP’s Standing Committee, the highest policy-making body of the party.
Chowdhury can also request clemency from the president.
The court acquitted him on a charge of inciting Pakistani troops to shoot a suspect, which had earned him a 20-year prison sentence.
The government set up the tribunal in 2010, saying trials were needed to heal the wounds of the 1971 war, in which it says three million people were killed and 200,000 women raped.
“Salauddin Quader Chowdhury appeared in pleasant mood”, said jailor Reza.
It was the first time a BNP politician had been sentenced for his role in the conflict, which saw what was then East Pakistan secede from Islamabad.
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A Minnesota dentist who went on a guided bow hunting trip for big game in Zimbabwe said that he had no idea the lion he killed was protected and that he relied on the expertise of his local guides to ensure the… Most of the defendants come from the ranks of Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist party allied with the BNP. The BNP has been significantly weakened in recent months after carrying out a three-month nationwide traffic blockade in an attempt to overthrow current Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The Islamists had openly campaigned against independence for Bangladesh.
