Bangladesh executes convicted war criminal

(Vatican Radio) Time finally ran out for Abdul Kader Mullah, senior opposition leader and Islamist cleric in Bangladesh yesterday. Convicted for atrocities during the country’s war of independence that took place 41 years ago, he was hanged in Dhaka Prison yesterday morning. Carol Andrade reports:

Mullah had earlier been tried by a war crimes tribunal, found guilty, of among other things, killing more than 300 people, including intellectuals, doctors and teachers, and sentenced to life in jail. However, vociferous protests resulted in the Supreme Court taking up the matter and sentencing him to death.

Yesterday when news of the execution was announced, jubilant groups celebrated the event outside the prison in Dhaka, while elsewhere, his supporters went on the rampage, rioting and damaging public property. Political analysts say this is worrying because in January Bangladesh goes to the polls and they believe that the violence will continue.

Mullah himself had always maintained his innocence, insisting that the allegations and the trial itself were politically motivated. The assistant secretary general of the Jamaat-i-Islami, he is the very first to be executed following the setting up of the war crimes tribunal by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2010. Since it has so far only tried and convicted members of the opposition parties, it is itself viewed as suspect.

Security has been stepped up across Bangladesh after the execution as the country hovers on a razor’s edge of violence and mayhem in the lead-up to the January 5 elections. Bad enough before, the situation could get even more chaotic as the week concludes.
Carol Andrade for Vatican Radio