LHL must take ref from Nehs.
http://m.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/fadf819a-90c3-11e5-bd82-c1fb87bef7af.html
Bangladesh hangs two opposition leaders for war crimes
Victor Mallet in Dhaka
Bangladesh hanged two senior opposition leaders in the early hours of Sunday after they were convicted of war crimes during the independence struggle that led to the country’s violent separation from the rest of Pakistan in 1971.
Salauddin Qader Chowdhury, a long time member of parliament for the Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP) and adviser to BNP leader Khaleda Zia, and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, secretary-general of Jamaat Islami and a former government minister, were hanged after midnight. The two parties are allies.
The Jamaat leadership, now in hiding or in exile, called a day of strikes and transport disruption for Monday in protest, in the latest example of the political unrest and violence that has troubled the country and disrupted its successful garment export industry for years.
The government blocked social media, including Facebook and WhatsApp, for four days leading up to the hangings. Security was also stepped up, with the deployment of paramilitaries in the capital and in the hometowns of the two convicted men.
Chowdhury and Mojaheed were among the 16 people so far sentenced to death by the so-called International Crimes Tribunal, a domestic court which has mounted what foreign jurists and Bangladeshi opposition leaders say is a flawed judicial process.
The two men were among those who sided with Pakistani forces as they tried to stop the Bengalis of East Pakistan from seizing independence with the help of India.
Chowdhury was given four death sentences for various massacres and killings, including those of Hindus. Mojaheed, sentenced to death once, headed Al-Badr Bahini, an infamous unit linked to the Pakistani army that murdered dozens of Bengali intellectuals in the final days of Pakistani rule.
The proceedings have coincided with a long crackdown on the opposition by the Awami League government of Sheikh Hasina, and violent opposition protests, including during the 2014 election that returned Ms Hasina to power after it was boycotted by the BNP.
Ms Hasina’s supporters say she is simply behaving as the BNP did in the past — “It’s the political culture in this country,” said one government minister.
But her critics say that by crushing the legitimate opposition she will drive her opponents, including Islamists, underground. Recent weeks and months have already seen numerous attacks, some claimed by Islamic State (Isis), on liberal writers, policemen, foreigners and Shia Muslims.
One opposition sympathiser, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, said blocking mainstream parties would redirect religious and political passions into “underground extremism and violence”. He went on to describe the Awami League’s government as “one-party rule”.
The government said that the two convicted men had appealed for clemency at the last minute but had been turned down. However their relatives, after visiting them in Dhaka Central Jail before the execution, insisted that they had never sought mercy. In a statement, Jamaat described the execution of Mojaheed as “a planned killing”.
Additional reporting by Joe Allchin
http://m.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/fadf819a-90c3-11e5-bd82-c1fb87bef7af.html
Bangladesh hangs two opposition leaders for war crimes
Victor Mallet in Dhaka
Bangladesh hanged two senior opposition leaders in the early hours of Sunday after they were convicted of war crimes during the independence struggle that led to the country’s violent separation from the rest of Pakistan in 1971.
Salauddin Qader Chowdhury, a long time member of parliament for the Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP) and adviser to BNP leader Khaleda Zia, and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, secretary-general of Jamaat Islami and a former government minister, were hanged after midnight. The two parties are allies.
The Jamaat leadership, now in hiding or in exile, called a day of strikes and transport disruption for Monday in protest, in the latest example of the political unrest and violence that has troubled the country and disrupted its successful garment export industry for years.
The government blocked social media, including Facebook and WhatsApp, for four days leading up to the hangings. Security was also stepped up, with the deployment of paramilitaries in the capital and in the hometowns of the two convicted men.
Chowdhury and Mojaheed were among the 16 people so far sentenced to death by the so-called International Crimes Tribunal, a domestic court which has mounted what foreign jurists and Bangladeshi opposition leaders say is a flawed judicial process.
The two men were among those who sided with Pakistani forces as they tried to stop the Bengalis of East Pakistan from seizing independence with the help of India.
Chowdhury was given four death sentences for various massacres and killings, including those of Hindus. Mojaheed, sentenced to death once, headed Al-Badr Bahini, an infamous unit linked to the Pakistani army that murdered dozens of Bengali intellectuals in the final days of Pakistani rule.
The proceedings have coincided with a long crackdown on the opposition by the Awami League government of Sheikh Hasina, and violent opposition protests, including during the 2014 election that returned Ms Hasina to power after it was boycotted by the BNP.
Ms Hasina’s supporters say she is simply behaving as the BNP did in the past — “It’s the political culture in this country,” said one government minister.
But her critics say that by crushing the legitimate opposition she will drive her opponents, including Islamists, underground. Recent weeks and months have already seen numerous attacks, some claimed by Islamic State (Isis), on liberal writers, policemen, foreigners and Shia Muslims.
One opposition sympathiser, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, said blocking mainstream parties would redirect religious and political passions into “underground extremism and violence”. He went on to describe the Awami League’s government as “one-party rule”.
The government said that the two convicted men had appealed for clemency at the last minute but had been turned down. However their relatives, after visiting them in Dhaka Central Jail before the execution, insisted that they had never sought mercy. In a statement, Jamaat described the execution of Mojaheed as “a planned killing”.
Additional reporting by Joe Allchin
