Bangladesh Supreme Court upholds Jamaat chief’s death term

Fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami party leader and key financier Mir Quasem Ali could be executed soon after Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence handed down to him for committing war crimes during the country’s 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan.

The five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha pronounced a single-word judgement in the court room. “Rejected,” said top judge, who is the first Hindu to occupy the post in the Muslim-majority country, about 64-year-old Ali’s appeal. Ali is considered as the key-financier of Jamaat, which was opposed to Bangladesh’s 1971 independence from Pakistan.

In his brief comments after the verdict, attorney-general Mahbubey Alam told reporters that Ali could now seek presidential clemency as his last resort to save himself from the gallows. “He now could be (sent) to (the) gallows anytime if he does not seek clemency or his mercy petition is rejected,” Mr Alam said. Ali’s lawyers were not immediately available for comments.

The decision paves the way for Ali’s execution unless he is pardoned by the president. Ali, also a media doyen, filed the review petition after the apex court published its full verdict and the International Crimes Tribunal issued the death warrant against him on June 6. His son Ahmed Bin Quasem was allegedly abducted by security forces earlier in August. Ali owns several business houses and media outlets, including a now suspended TV channel and is a central executive council member of Jamaat-e-Islami.