Bangladeshi court sentences 5 people to death

By Md. Kamruzzaman

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - A Bangladeshi court on Tuesday sentenced five people to death for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971, local media reports said.

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), a local court formed to hear cases related to the war that marked the country's secession from Pakistan, convicted them of killings, abduction, confinement, torture, arson attack and looting, Daily Star reported citing court records.

Only one of the convicts Ranju Miah, 60, attended the hearing, while the others were tried in absentia.

The absconding convicts are -- Abdul Jabbar Mondol, 86; Jachhijar Rahman, 64; Abdul Wahed Mondol, 62; and Montaz Ali Bepari, 68. The court asked police to arrest them at the earliest.

This is not the first time the ICT, a controversial tribunal, has convicted elderly people.

The tribunal is accused of being used against political opponents under the pretext of punishing war criminals.

Following the formation of the court, international human rights group, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, voiced their deep concern over the “unfair trial” process.