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Bangladesh's Kamaruzzaman sentenced to death | Bangladesh's Kamaruzzaman sentenced to death |
(35 minutes later) | |
The deputy head of Bangladesh's opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party has been sentenced to death by the country's war crimes tribunal. | |
Muhammad Kamaruzzaman was found guilty on five out of seven counts of torture and mass murder committed during the 1971 war of independence. | |
The nine-month war of secession from Pakistan killed as many as three million people. | |
The tribunal was set up in 2010 to try people accused of collaboration. | |
Jamaat-e-Islami accuses the government of using the proceedings to curb the opposition's activities ahead of elections scheduled for next year. | |
International rights groups, meanwhile, say the tribunal falls short of international standards. | |
Street battles | |
The conviction comes at a testing time for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has made prosecution of 1971 war crimes one of her government's key goals. | |
Analysts say the death sentence will only exacerbate an already febrile situation in a country where police and Islamist protesters have this week been fighting deadly battles on the streets of the capital Dhaka. | |
The umbrella organisation behind the protests - of which Jamaat is a part - is calling for the introduction of more Islamic laws, and has shown it can easily mobilise vast numbers onto the streets. | |
Nine senior figures from Jamaat - the country's largest Islamist party, which opposed the break with Pakistan - were among 12 people charged with war crimes by the tribunal. | Nine senior figures from Jamaat - the country's largest Islamist party, which opposed the break with Pakistan - were among 12 people charged with war crimes by the tribunal. |
All have denied the charges against them, but the convictions of three Islamist leaders in January and March sparked protests in which dozens of people were killed. | |
Kamaruzzaman was charged in August 2010, a month after being arrested in a separate criminal case. | Kamaruzzaman was charged in August 2010, a month after being arrested in a separate criminal case. |
He was charged with being a key organiser of the al-Badr, an auxiliary force of the Pakistani army which killed Bangladeshi intellectuals during the 1971 conflict. | He was charged with being a key organiser of the al-Badr, an auxiliary force of the Pakistani army which killed Bangladeshi intellectuals during the 1971 conflict. |
The tribunal was established by the government in 2010 to try Bangladeshis accused of collaborating with Pakistani forces who attempted to stop the former East Pakistan from gaining independence. | The tribunal was established by the government in 2010 to try Bangladeshis accused of collaborating with Pakistani forces who attempted to stop the former East Pakistan from gaining independence. |