Bangladesh's Parliament has voted to amended the country's war crimes law to allow the State to appeal against the life sentence handed down to an Islamist leader after thousands took to the streets demanding his execution.
Under the new law, the Bangladeshi government and other agencies are allowed to appeal against verdicts issued by the International Crimes Tribunal set up in 2010 to try those accused of collaborating with Pakistani forces and committing atrocities during the 1971 war of independence.
The amendment also paves the way for the prosecution and potential ban of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, which had supported Pakistan in the independence war. Incidentally, the Jamaat is a close ally of the Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
The latest development came after tens of thousands of Bangladeshis took to the streets to protest the life sentence handed down by the Tribunal to Abdul Kader Mullah, Assistant Secretary-General of the Jamaat-e-Islami Party, on February 5 for committing crimes against humanity during the independence war. The 64-year-old cleric was charged with murder and five other crimes.
Twelve people are standing trial in cases relating to crimes committed during the war preceding the independence of Bangladesh in 1971. They include nine Jamaat leaders, a Muslim cleric and two members of the BNP.
The tribunal handed down its first verdict last month by sentencing to death well-known Muslim cleric Abul Kalam Azad. The preacher in exile is charged with murdering Hindus and raping Hindu women during the war that liberated Bangladesh from Pakistan.
Although protesters who demanded the amendment have welcomed its adoption, the Jamaat-e-Islami has called for a nation-wide strike on Monday to protest the development. A day earlier, at least three people were killed in clashes between police and Jamaat supporters.
An estimated three million people were killed in the 1971 war that Bangladesh won against Pakistan with the help of the Indian Army and secured its independence. The independence war followed a popular uprising triggered by the jailing of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, after he led his Awami League to victory in elections.
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