Last Updated on 9 years by INDIAN AWAAZ
Dhaka: The Bangladesh Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the death penalty given to Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami for war crimes during the 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan, paving the way for his execution.
A four-member bench headed by Chief Justice S.K. Sinha dismissed an appeal by Nizami, 73, who was convicted of murder, rape and orchestrating the massacre of top intellectuals in 1971 using his ruthless Al-Badr militia when he was its leader.
”The apex court has put the seal on his death penalty handed down previously by the International Crimes Tribunal,” senior prosecution lawyer Jiad Al Malum told PTI.
The court upheld capital penalty for Nizami in three charges and life imprisonment in two charges.
Nizami, Jamaat’s leader since 2000 and a minister in a former Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led government of 2001-2006, now, faces execution unless his case is reviewed by the court or he is granted clemency by the president.
A large number of people rallied outside the heavily- guarded court complex to welcome the verdict.