Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday handed down death penalty to Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) assistant secretary general Abdul Quader Mollah for "crimes against humanity" he committed during 1971 Liberation War.
On hearing the appeal petitions of both the state and the convict, five member Appellate Division (AD) bench headed by Chief Justice M Mozzammel Hossain pronounced the operative part of the judgment this morning at 9.30 on Tuesday.
The judgment was pronounced on the basis of the majority members of the bench, a state counsel said.
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court awarded the capital punishment to the Jamaat assistant secretary general more than seven-months after a special tribunal, formed to deal with the wartime offences, sentenced life term imprisonment to Mollah.
The ICT-2 sentenced life imprisonment to Mollah on February 5 last as five wartime offences were proved against him.
The people of the country termed the verdict “inadequate” and burst into protest which eventually spread across the country even in abroad.
The youths and later the mass people of the country held an unprecedented protest at Shahbagh intersection of the capital demanding capital punishment for war criminals.
The demonstration forced the government to amend the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act-1973 to ensure the rights of the state to appeal on behalf of the war crimes victims of 1971.
BBN/SSR/AD-17Sept13-12:30 pm (BST)
