Bangladesh war crimes: SC upholds BNP leader’s death sentence

Dhaka, July 29: The Bangladesh Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the death sentence for Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury,media reported.

A four-member bench of Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha upheld the death sentence given to Chowdhury for his involvement in 1971 war crimes, bdnews24 reported.

He is the second former minister to have the death sentence upheld after Jamaat-e-Islami's Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid.

Chowdhury was sentenced to death on Oct 1, 2013 by a controversial domestic war crimes tribunal. He was convicted of nine different crimes, including rape, torture and genocide, allegedly carried out during the South Asian nation's 1971 independence struggle.

The war crimes tribunal had found Chowdhury guilty in nine out of the 23 charges levelled against him by the prosecution.

Chowdhury is the fifth to get a verdict on the appeal against the tribunal's judgment. He was at Kashimpur Jail in Gazipur.

OneIndia News