Bangladesh sentences 3 to life in prison for 'crimes against humanity' during independence war

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – A special tribunal in Bangladesh on Monday sentenced three individuals to life imprisonment for "crimes against humanity" committed during the country’s independence war in 1971.

A three-member bench of the local International Crimes Tribunal, headed by Justice Md Shahinur Islam, announced the verdict in the capital, Dhaka.

The three men, who had been incarcerated in the northern Sherpur district since 2018, were brought before the tribunal to hear the sentence.

The convicted individuals were members of the Al-Badr group, local collaborators of the then-Pakistani army during the independence war, said government prosecutor Rezia Sultana, speaking to reporters outside the courthouse following the verdict.

She said the three people were sentenced for crimes against humanity such as abduction, detention, torture, and murder.

Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971 following a bloody war that lasted months.

In Aug. 2018, the tribunal ordered the trial of four people. One of them died while in detention, and his name was omitted from the special tribunal's verdict.

However, the defendants' lawyer, Abdus Sattar, has announced that the judgment will be challenged in court.

Since the inception of the special tribunal in 2009, the court has handed down verdicts in 55 cases against 152 people, including six senior leaders of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and one Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader who have been sentenced to death.

​​​The tribunal has been criticized by global rights groups for not following fair trial standards.

Human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have criticized the special tribunal for failing to uphold global standards for fair trials.