Bangladesh SC upholds top Jamaat leader’s death sentence, first minister ever to be executed

Bangladesh's Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojaheed, media reported.

A four-member bench of the apex court, presided over by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, confirmed the death penalty for the 67-year-old former commander of Al-Badr, the militia backed by Pakistan to crush the Bengali struggle for independence, bdnews24 reported.

This is the first time a politician, who has earlier served as a minister, is going to be executed for war crimes in Bangladesh.

Mujahid, the social welfare minister in Bangladesh National Party-Jamaat coalition cabinet, planned and executed mass murders including those of intellectuals, scientists, academics and journalists during the struggle for independence.

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-2 in August 2013 awarded the death sentence to the Jamaat leader.

Mojaheed lodged his appeal with the Supreme Court on August 11 the same year, seeking acquittal from all the charges against him.

– (IANS)