Islamist leader executed in Bangladesh for war crimes

(Image credit: Farjana Khan Godhuly/AFP/Getty Images)

published 11 May 2016

Motiur Rahman Nizami, one of the top leaders of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami party in Bangladesh, was put to death Tuesday in Dhaka, Bangladesh's state-run news agency says.

Nizami, 73, was executed for war crimes that took place during the country's 1971 war of independence to break away from Pakistan. The Supreme Court rejected his last-minute appeal, and after he was hanged, crowds formed outside the Dhaka Central Jail to celebrate, hitting their shoes on posters featuring his face, CNN reports.

A special tribunal was convened in 2014 to try Nizami, and he was ultimately convicted of rape, the murders of intellectuals, and orchestrating genocide. Human Rights Watch says there were several problems with his trial, as Nizami was only allowed to have four witnesses and could not challenge prosecution witnesses who reportedly made inconsistent statements. "While many in Bangladesh believe Nizami to be guilty and want him punished, justice is only served through fair trials," said Brad Adams, director of Human Rights Watch Asia. "Instead of expedited hangings, authorities in Bangladesh should do everything possible to ensure that victims receive accurate answers about responsibility for crimes of such gravity and magnitude."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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