The Awami League-led incumbent Bangladesh government has hanged the war criminals Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury for their atrocities against humanity committed during the war of liberation in 1971.
The Dhaka Central Jail sources have confirmed this to Samakal online immediately after the execution, this night.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) spokesperson, Monirul Islam, has also confirmed this to Samakal online.
The execution of the duo was carried out at 12.55 am on Saturday night.
Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, 67, was sentenced to death for war crimes such as the killing of the country’s top intellectuals. He is the second most senior member of Bangladesh’s Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami.
The BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, 66, was convicted for atrocities such as genocide during the 1971 war when the then East Pakistan split from Islamabad.
Chowdhury is a six-times ex-lawmaker and a top aide to Khaleda Zia, leader of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
Earlier in the night, the President Abdul Hamid rejected the mercy petitions filed by Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.
A government source had confirmed this to Samakal online.
But the Jamaat-e-Islami has claimed that the news of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojaheed’s seeking presidential clemency, reported in separate media in the county, quoted by jail authorities is false and confusing.
The family members, on the other hand, of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury also refused the reports on seeking presidential clemency.
Earlier on the day, reportedly, BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojaheed have sought presidential mercy against their death penalties.
A Home Ministry source said that in separate written pleas, they sought mercy after admitting their crimes against humanity committed during the country’s Liberation War in 1971 which were proved against them at the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
On Thursday evening, the Supreme Court (SC) has published the full verdict copies of the review pleas of Salauddin Quader and Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojaheed. Later on that night, the jail authorities read out the verdict to them.
Family members of the war criminals- Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and Salauddin Quader Chowdhury- have already met with both of them at Dhaka Central Jail on Thursday and later on Saturday night.
On Wednesday, the four-member Appellate Division bench of the SC led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha upheld the death penalties for Salauddin Quader and Mujahid for their crimes committed during the Liberation War in 1971.
The war criminals Salauddin Quader and Mujahid on October 14 filed the review petitions to the SC, seeking acquittal on all the charges against them.
On October 1, 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) sentenced Salauddin Quader to death for his crimes against humanity. He lodged appeal against his sentence on October 29, 2013 and the Appellate Division in its verdict on July 29, 2015, upheld the death sentence for him.
Meanwhile, the International Crimes Tribunal-2 (ICT-2) on July 17, 2013 sentenced Mujahid to death for committing crimes against humanity during the War of Liberation. The Jamaat leader filed an appeal with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on August 12, 2013.
On April 11, the Bangladesh government also hanged Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General Muhammad Kamaruzzaman for his atrocities committed during the 1971 war of independence.
