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Bangladesh hangs top JI leader for war crimes

13 December, 2013

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DHAKA: Bangladesh on Thursday hanged an Islamist leader Abdul Quader Molla, making him the first person to be put to death for massacres committed during the bloody 1971 war of independence.

Deputy Law Minister Quamrul Islam announced the execution, saying Abdul Quader Molla, 65, a senior leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was hanged by the neck at 10:01 pm (1601 GMT) in a jail in Dhaka.

"It's an historic moment. Finally after four decades, the victims of the genocides of 1971 liberation war have got some justice," Islam told AFP. "It's the best gift for (the) nation as we celebrate the Victory Day on December 16," he said, referring to the national day that marked Bangladesh's independence war victory against Pakistan.

The execution is expected to further inflame tensions in Bangladesh after weeks of deadly violence, and there were reports of fresh clashes soon after the announcement. The hanging took place just hours after the Supreme Court dismissed Molla's appeal for a final review of his death sentence, removing the last legal obstacle to his execution. His wife and children were allowed a final meeting with him at the prison hours before the execution, and found him to be "calm". "He told us that he is proud to be a martyr for the cause of the Islamic movement in the country," Molla's son Hasan Jamil told AFP after the meeting.

Shortly after the execution, Molla's body was being driven by police escort to his home village, where he will be buried. "We are not allowed to travel with the body," Jamil said. An ambulance entered the jail moments after the hanging amid loud cheers, while elite Rapid Action Battalion forces circled the jail compound to maintain order. While there was no immediate violence at the prison, local media and police reported that Islamists and opposition protesters armed with crude bombs and rocks clashed with police in several cities shortly after the execution. Security had already been tightened in anticipation of the execution, with the authorities deploying heavily armed paramilitary border guards in key flashpoints.

Jamaat has called the execution a "political murder" and warned of exacting revenge for "every drop" of Molla's blood. But in a sign of the sharp divide in Bangladesh, thousands of secular protesters erupted in celebration as news of the execution came. They had been camping at Shahbagh square in Dhaka since Tuesday night, shouting slogans including: "Hang Quader Molla, hang war criminals".

Molla was originally set to be hanged on Tuesday after he refused to seek presidential clemency but a judge stayed the hanging just 90 minutes before the scheduled execution. After a trial by a much-criticised domestic tribunal, Molla was found guilty in February of having been a leader of a pro-Pakistan militia which fought against the country's independence and killed some of Bangladesh's top professors, doctors, writers and journalists. A key opposition official, he was convicted of rape, murder and mass murder, including the killing of more than 350 unarmed civilians.

Politically motivated' trials Molla was one of five Islamists and other politicians sentenced to death by a domestic court known as the International Crimes Tribunal, which the opposition says is aimed at eradicating its leaders.

Molla's lawyers had protested the original order, saying the death penalty was awarded based on evidence given by only one prosecution witness, who had also earlier given differing versions of the same event. UN Human Rights chief Navi Pillay wrote to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina seeking a stay of execution, saying the trial did not meet stringent international standards for the death penalty. UN chief Ban Ki-moon has "made his views clear" on his opposition to the death penalty, "including with regard to this particular case", said his spokesman Martin Nesirky.

End.

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