The Muslim-majority nation has recently been hit by a series of militant attacks, the most serious on July 1, when gunmen killed 20 – mainly foreign – hostages in the capital, Dhaka.
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Tuesday’s decision is considered a major blow for the Jamaat-e-Islami party, which the 63-year-old Ali had helped revive by setting up charities, businesses and trusts linked to it after it was allowed to operate in the late 1970s.
Defence lawyers said Ali and his family would decide whether to seek clemency from the president.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry referenced human rights criticisms in Bangladesh in a speech Monday in Dhaka, saying “we have to uphold and not betray” democratic principles in the fight against extremism.
Ali could go to the gallows any time, without such clemency.
A war crimes tribunal to investigate cases originating from Bangladesh’s war of independence from Pakistan in 1971 was set up by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2010. The government denies the accusations. The government denies the accusations.Human rights groups say the tribunal’s procedures fall short of global standards, but the government rejects that assertion, and the trials are supported by many Bangladeshis. Security has been heightened in Dhaka as previous verdicts related to the war criminal had triggered violent protests.
“This verdict was what the people were hoping for”. The Jamaat-e-Islami party leader had filed a petition seeking a review of his death penalty.
Bangladesh’s top court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence for a top tycoon and senior leader of the country’s largest Islamist party, paving the way for his execution possibly within days.
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But the party denies its leaders committed any atrocities.
