Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has increased the life sentence given to a senior Islamist leader, who will now be executed.
Abdul Quader Mollah, a senior official of the Jamaat-e-Islami party was initially sentenced in February for crimes related to the 1971 liberation war waged by East Pakistan against West Pakistan, which gave the East its independence as Bangladesh.
Described by prosecutors as the “Butcher of Mirpur”, Mollah, now 65, was convicted of rape and mass murders committed during the nine month long 1971 conflict, including the slaying of 344 unarmed Bengali civilians. A noted poet and a highly regarded journalist were amongst his victims.
Defence lawyer Tajul Islam said: “We are stunned by the verdict. This is the first time in South Asian judicial history that a trial court sentence has been enhanced by a Supreme Court.” Islam said the defence would seek a review of the verdict in their final attempt to avoid hanging, which the prosecution said could be carried out later this year once all legal appeals have been exhausted.
Mollah’s Jamaat-e-Islami party has been declared illegal and is banned from contesting next January’s general election. The party has accused the country’s secular government of trying to execute its entire leadership, three of whom have been sentenced to death by the war crimes tribunal that sentenced Mollah to life imprisonment. A dozen others are being tried for their roles during the war. The government maintains the trials are needed to heal the wounds of the conflict.
Mollah’s increased sentence could further inflame political tensions in the country, just four months before it holds elections. The main opposition party, an ally of Jamaat, leads in opinion polls.
