(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