A special war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh yesterday sentenced the leader of an Islamic political party to death for crimes stemming from the nation’s 1971 fight for independence, a politically charged decision that sparked violent protests.
Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee was found guilty of eight counts out of 20 involving mass killings, rape and atrocities during the nine-month war against Pakistan, prosecutor Syed Haider Ali said. The verdict was announced by presiding tribunal judge ATM Fazle Kabir in a packed courtroom.
JUSTICE
“Justice has been done to those who lost their loved ones at the hands of Sayedee,” Ali said.
Lawyers for the defendant boycotted the tribunal during the verdict and rejected it as politically motivated. Sayedee’s lawyer, Abdur Razzak, said they would appeal.
Jamaat-e-Islami was enforcing a nationwide general strike yesterday to denounce the trial and demand Sayedee be freed.
Supporters of Sayedee clashed with police in Sirajganj District while protesting the verdict, leaving two people dead, private television channel Ekattar TV reported. Police were not immediately available to comment on the reported deaths.
Sayedee is the third defendant to be convicted of crimes against humanity since Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government initiated the tribunal in 2010.
In the first verdict in January, the tribunal sentenced former Jamaat leader Abul Kalam Azad to death on similar charges.
Another Jamaat leader, Abdul Quader Mollah, was sentenced to life in prison last month for atrocities during the war.
Another seven top leaders of Jamaat are on trial for their alleged role in the atrocities during the war.
Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamic party in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, had campaigned against the 1971 independence war, but it denies committing any atrocities.
Jamaat, a key ally of the country’s largest opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by former prime minister Khaleda Zia, was a partner in her government from 2001 to 2006.
Zia’s party has questioned the conduct of the tribunal, saying the trial was aimed at destroying the opposition.
FAIR TRIAL?
International human rights organizations also questioned the fairness of the trial, referring to the disappearance of a witness for Sayedee.
Bangladesh says the 1971 war left 3 million people dead, 200,000 women raped and forced millions to take shelter in neighboring India.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the