Bangladesh finds man guilty of genocide during 1971 war

He was sentenced to death.

DHAKA: Bangladesh's war crimes tribunal sentenced a senior opposition leader and lawmaker to death on Tuesday in the seventh such verdict by the body set up to probe abuses during the country's bloody struggle for independence.

Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, a legislator from the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was found guilty of torture, rape and genocide during the war for independence from Pakistan in 1971.

Judge A T M Fazle Kabir ordered Chowdhury "to be hanged by the neck" after he was convicted of "war crimes charges such as genocide, killing and religious persecution," Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said.

After the sentence was read out to a packed tribunal, a defiant Chowdhury, 64, accused the government of ordering the judge's decision.

"This judgement came from the (law) ministry. The copy of the verdict has been available on the internet since yesterday," he cried out.

The process has been denounced by opposition parties as politically motivated ahead of polls due by January and more than 100 people have been killed in protests against the war crimes verdicts since the start of this year.

The 64-year-old Chowdhury was charged with killing some 200 civilians and collaborating with Pakistan's army to kill and torture unarmed people, as well as other crimes.

Bangladesh deployed security forces in the capital, Dhaka, and in Chowdhury's home city ahead of the verdict.