(MENAFN- Gulf Times) A special court in Bangladesh yesterday sentenced one person to death and another to life in jail for crimes committed during the country's 1971 war of independence with Pakistan, court officials said.
The war crimes tribunal handed down the sentences against Sheikh Sirajul Islam, 72, and Khan Akram Hossain, 61, for mass killings, looting and arson attacks during the nine-month armed struggle, prosecution lawyer Syedul Huq Sumon said.
Sheikh Sirajul Islam, known for his killing missions in the southern parts of the country during the war, was sentenced to die after five counts of war crimes were proved against him.
Hossain was given life in prison for three counts of crimes against humanity, the prosecution lawyer said.
Investigators said both of them joined the wartime vigilante "Razakar" force to aid the Pakistani military and carry out attacks on civilians.
The defendants have mostly been leading figures from the Islamist opposition.
Bangladesh set up the International Crimes Tribunal in 2010 to prosecute those accused of atrocities committed in the 1971 war of independence with Pakistan.
The defendants allegedly collaborated with the occupying army during the nine-month conflict.
East Pakistan became Bangladesh after the fighting ended with the surrender of Pakistani forces on December 16, 1971.
The government of prime minister Sheikh Hasina estimates that 3mn people died, and about 200,000 women were raped. Independent researchers say the death toll was considerably lower.
An early attempt to prosecute the suspects was called off following the 1975 assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh's founding president and Hasina's father.
Most of those indicted are from Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's largest Islamist party, which opposed independence during the conflict, and has rejected the trials as politically motivated.
The tribunal has so far handed down verdicts on 24 defendants. Eighteen were sentenced to death, five to life and one to 90 years in jail. Two of them have already been executed.
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