Bangladesh Islamic party leader sentenced to death

DHAKA, Bangladesh, Feb 28: A special tribunal in Bangladesh has convicted the leader of an Islamic political party of war crimes stemming from the nation´s 1971 independence war and has sentenced him to death.



Prosecutor Syed Haider Ali says Islamic Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee was found guilty of committing mass killings, rape and atrocities during the nine-month war against Pakistan.



The verdict was announced Thursday by tribunal judge ATM Fazle Kabir.



Lawyers for the defendant boycotted the tribunal during the verdict. Comments from Sayedee´s lawyers were not immediately available, but he had previously denied the allegations and said the charges were politically motivated.



Jamaat-e-Islami is enforcing a nationwide general strike Thursday to denounce the trial and to demand he be freed.

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