Bangladesh hangs Chowdhury and Mujahid over 1971 war crimes
2 hours ago
From the section Asia
Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid (left) inside a police vehicle as he is transported to the central jail after a court verdict in Dhaka (July 2013)Image copyrightAFP
Image caption
Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid (pictured, left) and Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury have been executed
Two Bangladesh opposition leaders have been executed for war crimes committed during the 1971 independence struggle against Pakistan.
Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid were hanged in Dhaka's central jail.
They were convicted of genocide and rape - charges they denied.
Chowdhury has been an influential politician - he was elected MP six times. Mujahid was a top leader of Bangladesh's largest Islamist party.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said they were hanged after President Abdul Hamid rejected appeals for clemency by the two men.
However, family members have dismissed reports that the men had made any such appeals, which would have also required admissions of guilt.
"My father said he did not seek any mercy," Chowdhury's son, Humam Qauder Chowdhury, told AFP news agency, after meeting his father for the last time hours before his execution. "He has always said he's innocent."
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Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury
Better known as Saqa, he was eldest son of the late Muslim League and Chittagong-based leader Fazlul Quader Chowdhury
His father was the speaker of the National Assembly of undivided Pakistan in 1965 and campaigned for a united Pakistan
Complained that the tribunal's verdict had come "from the [law] ministry", saying it was on the internet before it was announced in court
Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid
A student leader in 1971, he supported Bangladesh remaining part of Pakistan
Went into hiding soon after independence, but resurfaced after Gen Ziaur Rahman came to power in a military coup in 1977
Was social welfare minister in the BNP-led government from 2001-2006 and was highly regarded for his organisational skills and oratory
Bangladesh war crimes trial: Key accused
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The Supreme Court upheld their sentences earlier this month.
Chowdhury was the most senior leader of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party to be sentenced for crimes against humanity.
Two years ago, a special war crimes tribunal found him guilty of nine out of 23 charges including genocide, arson and persecuting people on religious and political grounds.
The prosecution said that his father's residence in Chittagong was turned into a torture cell during the war.
Mujahid was the secretary-general of Jamaat-e-Islami. He was sentenced to death in July 2013.
He was accused of responsibility for the killings of a number of pro-independence Bangladeshi leaders and intellectuals.
The tribunal found him guilty of five charges, including abduction and murder.
Bangladesh's government says the war crimes trials are necessary to bring murderers to justice.
But the opposition says they have been used to persecute them and human rights groups have said the tribunal does not meet international standards.
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Bangladesh independence war, 1971
Soldiers in the 1971 Bangladesh war of independenceImage copyrightGetty Images
Image caption
The 1971 war lasted only a few months but was fought brutally and bitterly
Bangladesh war crimes trial: Key accused
Civil war erupts in Pakistan, pitting the West Pakistan army against East Pakistanis demanding autonomy and later independence
Fighting forces an estimated 10 million East Pakistani civilians to flee to India
In December, India invades East Pakistan in support of the East Pakistani people
Pakistani army surrenders at Dhaka and its army of more than 90,000 become Indian prisoners of war
East Pakistan becomes the independent country of Bangladesh on 16 December 1971
Exact number of people killed is unclear - Bangladesh says it is three million but independent researchers say it is up to 500,000 fatalities

hmmm...this fellows has evaded the court for years due to a weak Justice system but thankGod the long wait for justice has paid off..
this simply means justice delayed is not an outright denial...i just hope the Nigerian government and the judiciary can take a clue from this..especially on the endemic issue of corruption.. all stolen wealth must be return and justice served





feels great to make FTC...my first tho

Hope buhary is watching, he can keep killing pro-indepence Biafrans. He will end up in jail because he can not be above the law. He may decide to become above zoogerian law but not against international law, he can ask omar al-bashir his bossom friend who keeps hiding like a rat and smuggling himself in and out of countries.

ArodeTsolaye:
Hope buhary is watching, he can keep killing pro-indepence Biafrans. He will end up in jail because he can not be above the law.

When did he kill them? They will ask you this in court.

IlekeHD:


When did he kill them? They will ask you this in court.

please, dont be scared.
all bad people will be brought to justice.

weather you kill nigeria people
or you steal nigeria money,
hanging.
at national stadium.

Need to hang Gowon, OBJ and all those war criminals since 1966

likila:


please, dont be scared.
all bad people will be brought to justice.

Grammar. Answer my question.

IlekeHD:


Grammar. Answer my question.

he will do that in court.
just watch and see.
is buhari stronger than saddam?
is he stronger than mozi?
i pray his own is not like kaddafi.