Bangladesh has executed two prominent opposition politicians for war crimes committed during the country's 1971 independence war against Pakistan.
Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, a former parliamentarian of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, senior office bearer of thee hardline Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party, were hanged in Dhaka Central Jail early Sunday, said home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, according to BBC News.
"We have executed the verdict (of the Supreme Court) according to the expectation of the people," Khan told BenarNews. He added that Choudhury, 66, and Mujahid, 67, were hanged after President Abdul Hamid turned down their clemency petitions.
The family members of the convicts met them in prison earlier and rejected media reports that the convicts had not filed any presidential clemency petition.
The International Crime Tribunal (ICT), set up by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2010, found Choudhury guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to death in Oct. 2013, according to The Financial Express. ICT sentenced Mujahid to death in April 2013.
Bangladesh has already executed two Jamaat leaders, Abdul Quader Molla and Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, for the crimes against humanity they had committed during the country's independence struggle, according to Prothom Alo. Kamaruzzaman was executed early this year while Molla was executed on Dec. 12, 2013.
Jammat-e-Islami called for a country-wide shut down for Monday, claiming that the trial was flawed.
