Bangladesh tribunal sentences Jamaat-e-Islami chief to death

, Oct 29:

's fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami chief Matiur Rahman Nizami was on Wednesday sentenced to death by a special tribunal for the war crimes committed by him during the 1971 independence war against Pakistan.

"He shall be hanged by neck until he is dead," pronounced the chairman of the three-member panel of judges of Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal Enayetur Rahim.

The ruling said Nizami deserved no punishment other than the death penalty for the gravity of crimes he had committed.

Eight of the 16 charges of war crimes against the 71-year-old Jamaat leader were proved beyond doubt. Witnesses said Nizami was present on the dock and looked indifferent as the judges read out the 204-page judgment in turns which took more than an hour to be delivered.

Meanwhile, a high alert has been issued in the wake of the death sentence being awarded to Matiur-Rehman Nizami. Central Intelligence agencies have warned the police officials in West Bengal and Assam to be on alert in the wake of this sentencing by the tribunal which found Nizami guilty of war crimes.

There could be retaliation on part of their cadres who are in large numbers in West Bengal. The threat looms large from the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh which is the militant wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Intelligence Bureau officials informed.

The JMB cadres have already shown signs of aggression following the busting of their modules post Burdhwan. The news of the death sentence could complicate matters further and hence their actions should be monitored closely especially by the local police and intelligence, the alert also states.

PTI