Bangladesh executes Motiur Rahman Nizami for war crimes

May 11, 2016

Bangladesh has executed head of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami party Motiur Rahman Nizami for war crimes committed during the 1971 war of independence to break away from Pakistan, the country's the law minister said. Nizami was hanged at Dhaka Central jail at one minute past midnight local time on Wednesday after the Supreme Court rejected his final plea against a death sentence imposed by a special tribunal for genocide, rape and orchestrating the massacre of top intellectuals during the war. In a sign of divided opinion over the hanging, scores of protesters came out in the streets of Dhaka to condemn the execution, while hundreds of others cheered the move. "We have waited for this day for a long 45 years," said war veteran Akram Hossain. "Justice has finally been served." Thousands of extra police and border guards were deployed in the capital Dhaka and other major cities to tighten security as Jamaat-e-Islami called for a nationwide strike on Thursday in protest of the execution. Previous similar judgments and executions have triggered violence that killed around 200 people, mainly Jamaat activists and police.   Al Jazeera