Bangladesh :Violence continues over death sentence top leaders

March 3, 2013

At least 15 people were killed on Sunday in fresh violence in Bangladesh over death sentence given to a top leader of fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami for “crimes against humanity” during the 1971 liberation war, taking the death toll to 65.

Violence broke out on Thursday after 73-year-old Delwar Hossain Sayedee, vice-president of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), was sentenced to death by International Crimes Tribunal.
Jamaat activists overnight torched a train and attacked several police installations in northwestern Bangladesh as they enforced a nationwide 48-hour stoppage to halt ongoing trial of their leaders.
Authorities stepped up security ahead of the strike which began as Indian President Pranab Mukherjee embarked on his maiden foreign tour to Dhaka since taking over the highest constitutional post seven months ago.
Six people were killed as police used gunshots on early Sunday morning when JI activists attacked a police station near an army cantonment at Shahjahanpur of northwestern Bogra.
At least 40 people were also injured in the clashes.
Main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) extended its support to its crucial extreme rightwing ally, which was opposed to the countries 1971 independence siding with the then Pakistani junta, questioning the “neutrality” of the war crimes trial.
BNP, however, did not extend its moral support for the 48-hour shut-down unlike previous such occasions.