Clashes in B’desh

Dhaka: In a surprise verdict, Bangladesh Supreme Court on Wednesday commuted the death sentence of Delwar Hossain Sayedee, a key 1971 war criminal and fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami leader, triggering clashes between police and protesters who demanded the execution of the Islamist leader.

"He shall serve in prison for the rest of his natural life," Chief Justice M Muzammel Hossain pronounced in a crowded courtroom, overturning a war-crimes tribunal ruling that awarded the 74-year-old leader death penalty last year.

A five-member bench of the apex court, headed by Hossain, pronounced the verdict by "majority view".

Sayedee is a stalwart of Jamaat, which was opposed to Bangladesh's 1971 independence siding with the then Pakistani junta, forming notorious militia groups like Al-Badr ad Al-Shams as auxiliary forces of the Pakistani troops.

He was handed down death penalty by International Crimes Tribunal in February last year that triggered the deadliest political violence in the country's history.

The Tribunal had found Sayedee guilty of six major charges while the apex found valid three of those including killing, rapes and forceful conversion of a number of Hindus to Islam and relieved him of charges of mass killings.

In an instant reaction, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said the verdict has "saddened" him as he expected the apex court to uphold the tribunal judgment.

"My expectation was that his death penalty would be upheld, which has not been fulfilled...So I feel bad," he told reporters.