Source: CNN
By Tiffany Ap and Farid Ahmed, CNN
Dhaka, Bangladesh (CNN)Bangladesh has executed a top leader of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami party, Motiur Rahman Nizami, for war crimes committed during the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.
“Motiur Rahman has been hanged to death at 12:10 a.m. (Wednesday),” Jahangir Kabir, Superintendent of the Dhaka Central Jail said.
The 73-year-old was hanged after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal on May 5. Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters on Tuesday evening that Nizami did not opt to seek presidential clemency.
He was convicted and sentenced to death in 2014 by a special tribunal for orchestrating genocide, rape and the massacre of top intellectuals during the conflict.
It’s estimated between 1 million and 3 million people were killed in the nine-month war.
Public celebrations
Nizami is the fifth person to be sentenced to death by the war crimes tribunal since 2013, and the fourth executed Jamaat leader following Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, Abdul Quader Molla, Mohammad Kamaruzzaman, who were all executed on similar charges.
Jamaat-e-Islami strongly opposed the breaking away from Pakistan and the party was banned shortly after Bangladesh gained independence. The group then reentered politics for several years before being declared illegal again in 2013.Jubilant crowds gathered outside the jail on the news of his death — processions of people handed out sweets and several used shoes to hit posters bearing Nizami’s face. A large contingent of police were deployed around the jail to beef up security measures.
Categories: Asia, Bangladesh, Capital Punishment, Islamists, Secularism, The Muslim Times, War crimes