Bangladesh court convicts two to death in absentia for war crimes

A Bangladesh war crimes court convicted and sentenced to death in absentia on Sunday two men accused of committing atrocities during the country’s war of independence from Pakistan in 1971.

Britain-based Muslim leader Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan, a US citizen, were found guilty of the torture and murder of 18 intellectuals during the war, lawyers and tribunal officials said.

They said the 18 included nine Dhaka University teachers, six journalists and three doctors.

Bangladesh has been hit in recent months by a wave of violent protests over war crimes convictions, presenting the government with a security and credibility challenge ahead of polls early next year.

The tribunal has brought down eight convictions so far, with six defendants sentenced to death.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina set up the tribunal in 2010 to investigate abuses during the conflict, during which India helped Bangladesh, then known as East Pakistan, break away from Pakistan. It delivered its first verdict in January.

The prime minister’s opponents say she is using the tribunal against the two biggest opposition parties, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami.

More than 100 people have been killed in protests and counter-protests since the tribunal’s first verdict.

Reuters