Dhaka, Dec 31 (ANI): A Bangladesh war crimes tribunal sentenced an Islamist party leader A.T.M. Azharul Islam to death after convicting him of atrocities committed during a 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. Azharul Islam, 62, assistant secretary general of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was found guilty of five out of six charges including the murder of hundreds of minority Hindus, rape, abduction and torture, prosecutors said. Prosecutor, International Crime Tribunal, Zead-al-Malim, said that of the six charges, the convict has been awarded death sentence based on three charges. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2010 opened an inquiry into war crimes committed during the nine-month war. The tribunals have angered Islamists who call them a politically motivated attempt by Hasina to persecute the leadership of Jamaat-e-Islami, a key part of the opposition coalition. Meanwhile, the court also observed that the war heroines should be respected and their feat should be covered in educational curriculum of the nation.
