On Wednesday, Bangladesh hanged Motiur Rahman Nizami, the former chief of the country's largest Islamist political party Bangladesh Jammat-i-Islami for war crimes committed during the 1971 War of Independance, including rape and genocide (NDTV, Reuters). The 72-year-old Nizami was sentenced in October 2014 by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) of Bangladesh.
Nizami, a former minister who served in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led government from 2001-2006, is one of the most high profile convictions by the ICT. The current government has been criticized for lack of transparency in the ICT trials and using these trials to target opposition parties.
Bangladesh's Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a final appeal by the head of country's largest Islamist party, Motiur Rahman Nizami, against his death sentence for atrocities committed during the war of independence from Pakistan in 1971 (BBC, Reuters). Nizami, 72, was seeking a review of the Supreme Court decision to uphold a war crimes tribunal verdict that convicted him of genocide, rape, and torture. His party, Jammat-i-Islami, has called for countrywide strikes and will hold street protests on Sunday. Nizami's only recourse now is to seek clemency from the President of Bangladesh, but many believe it is unlikely to be granted.