Bangladeshi court postpones opposition leader's execution

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/10/bangladesh-abdul-quader-mollah-execution-postponed

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A senior judge on the Bangladesh supreme court postponed the execution of an opposition leader until Wednesday at the earliest as his lawyers sought a new review of the case.

The execution of Abdul Quader Mollah, who was convicted of war crimes, had been scheduled to take place at one minute past midnight on Tuesday. But defence lawyers went to the home of the judge Syed Mahmud Hossain and sought a postponement, said one of them, Sazzad Ali Chowdhury.

"We have got that order," Chowdhury said. "Now the execution will remain halted until 10.30am on Wednesday." He said the postponement meant they could now file a petition with the supreme court to review the verdict.

The execution would be the first in special trials of suspects accused of crimes during Bangladesh's war of independence from Pakistan in 1971. The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, launched the trials in 2010. The government says Pakistani soldiers aided by local collaborators killed three million people and raped 200,000 women during the nine-month war.

Deadly clashes have followed court verdicts against six other current and former officials of the Islamic party, an ally of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist party. Extra police have been stationed in the capital to head off any violence. Paramilitary guards are on standby across the country.

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