The Bangladesh government has hanged death row convict al-Badr commander Muhammad Kamaruzzaman for committing crimes against humanity during the country's bloody war of independence in1971.
The execution was carried out around 10:30pm Saturday at Dhaka Central Jail, Inspector General (IG) of Prisons Brig Gen Syed Iftekhar Uddin told the Dhaka Tribune.
Kamaruzzaman, an assistant secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami, is the second person who was put to death by the International Crimes Tribunal.
Twenty-one members including wife, children of Kamaruzzaman's family met the Jamaat-e-Islami leader at the jail for one last time hours before the execution.
“The government is hanging my father in false cases as he was only 18-year old during the liberation war” Hasan Iqbal, son of Kamaruzzaman, told media after meeting his father.
"My father has told us that Islamic movement would be successful in Bangladesh for which he is being hanged."
Security has been tightened in the jail gate area, in the capital Dhaka and elsewhere in the country with the deployment of paramilitary force Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
The hanging took place five days after the Supreme Court rejected the 62-year-old Jamaat leader Kamaruzzaman's appeal for a final review of his death sentence.
Jamaat-e-Islami enforced two-day nationwide hartal after the Supreme Court Appellate Division announced the review verdict paving the way for the execution.
Hundreds of activists of Gonojagoron Moncho at Shahbagh in the capital Dhaka brought out joyous rally hearing the news of the execution. They have been staying there since Monday night.
Earlier, the Appellate Division judges took two days to sign the verdict that they gave on Monday upholding the death penalty of the Jamaat-e-Islami leader.
The jail authorities received the copy of the verdict on Wednesday and communicated it to the convict. But Kamaruzzaman, a key al-Badr organiser during the 1971 Liberation War, sought time to make his final decision to decide whether he would walk the gallows or seek presidential mercy, his only lifeline at this stage.
Finally, Kamaruzzaman refused to seek presidential clemency.
The war crimes tribunal on May 9, 2013 handed down death penalty to Kamaruzzaman on two out of five charges proved against him. He was sentenced to life term for two other charges and 10 years’ imprisonment in a fifth. He was acquitted on two charges.
Kamaruzzaman challenged the verdict at the Appellate Division on June 6, 2013. The apex court upheld the tribunal verdict on November 3 last year but commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment on one charge – the abduction and killing of Golam Mostafa.
The Jamaat leader was given capital punishment for the massacre of Sohagpur, now known as “Bidhoba Palli,” or the village of widows. He advised members of al-Badr and Razakar forces on July 25, 1971 to commit a large-scale massacre in association with the Pakistani occupation forces at Sohagpur under Nalitabari upazila in Sherpur. The collaborators murdered 164 unarmed civilians, 44 of whom have been named, and raped many women.
The full text of the verdict was released on February 18 and the tribunal sent Kamaruzzaman’s death warrant to the Dhaka Central Jail the following day. He filed the review petition on March 5.
In 1971, Kamaruzzaman was a top leader of greater Mymensingh unit Islami Chhatra Sangha, then student wing of Jamaat. He was also the office secretary of East Pakistan unit Chhatra Sangha.
He played the role of a key organiser in the formation of the infamous al-Badr force with the selected students belonging to Chhatra Sangha.
Kamaruzzaman has been in jail since July 29, 2010 when he was arrested in a case of hurting religious sentiment. He was shown arrested in the war crimes case on October 2 the same year. The trial began on July 2, 2012.
Kamaruzzaman is the second war crimes convict who filed a review petition with the apex court. Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah was executed on December 12, 2013. He did not seek mercy. The death sentence of another Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee was commuted to life-term by the top court.
After the Appellate Division pronounced its judgement rejecting the review petition, New York-based Human Rights Watch and the UN Human Rights Council asked the government to halt the execution and ensure a fair review of the trial as, according to them, it did not meet acceptable standards.
The European Union, which advocates for abolishing capital punishment, also asked the government to impose a moratorium on execution.
Execution is in effect in at least 52 countries of the world as well as in 32 states of the US.