This Article is From Aug 10, 2016

Bangladesh Sentences Former Member Of Parliament To Death For War Crimes In 1971

Bangladesh Sentences Former Member Of Parliament To Death For War Crimes In 1971

Tribunal sentenced Sakhawat Hossain, a former lawmaker belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami party, to death.

New Delhi: A special tribunal dealing with war crimes committed during Bangladesh's independence war against Pakistan in 1971 has sentenced a former lawmaker to death and seven others to life in prison for murder and other crimes.

The tribunal sentenced Sakhawat Hossain, a former parliament member belonging to the Jamaat-e-Islami party, to death today. He and one of the other defendants were present in the court. The six others were tried in absentia.

Hossain was a central committee member of Islami Chhatra Sangha, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami party at the time, and was accused of acting as a local commander of a group that aided Pakistani soldiers.

Bangladesh says Pakistani soldiers, aided by local collaborators, killed 3 million people and raped 200,000 women in 1971.

 
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