BANGLADESH: ISLAMIST LEADER SENTENCED TO DEATH

February 28, 2013: A special tribunal in Bangladesh convicted the leader of an Islamic political party of war crimes stemming from the nation's 1971 independence war and has sentenced him to death.
Islamic Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee was found guilty of committing mass killings, rape and atrocities during the nine-month war against Pakistan, prosecutor Syed Haider Ali said.
The verdict was announced by tribunal judge ATM Fazle Kabir.
Lawyers for the defendant boycotted the tribunal during the verdict. He had denied the allegations and said the charges were politically motivated.
Jamaat-e-Islami is enforcing a nationwide general strike today to denounce the trial and demand he be freed. (Sources: belfasttelegraph.co.uk, 28/02/2013)