Dhaka Tribunal: Pakistan concerned at JI chief’s death sentence

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan on Friday expressed ‘deep concern’ at the Bangladesh Supreme Court’s decision upholding the death sentence handed down to the head of Bangladesh’s Jamaat-e-Islami on charges of committing war crimes during the 1971 war.

On Thursday, Bangladesh’s top court rejected review petition filed by Motiur Rahman Nizami against the capital punishment on charges of committing genocide, rape and orchestrating the massacre of top intellectuals during the 1971 war.

The latest ruling means that the JI leader could be executed at any time.

“We have noted with deep concern and anguish the dismissal of the review application on the death sentence, by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, for Motiur Rahman Nizami the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami,” said a statement issued by the foreign office here.

“We have also been following the reaction of the international community to the controversial trials in Bangladesh, related to events of 1971,” the statement added.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2016.