Det sker efter ugelange voldsomme protester i hovedstaden Dhaka over, at han “kun” fik livsvarigt fængsel – han spillede en rolle i uafhængighedskrigen for over 40 år tilbage og angiveligt på pakistanernes side.
Bangladesh’s parliament has amended (ændret) a law which will allow the state to appeal against the life sentence of an Islamist party leader, after protesters called for his execution, reports BBC online Sunday.
The legal amendment also paves the way for the prosecution and potential ban of the Jamaat-e-Islami party.
Jamaat chief Abdul Kader Mullah was given life for his alleged role in crimes in the 1971 independence war from Pakistan, where more than three million people were killed.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators – mainly young men and women – demanded the death penalty for Mullah and 10 others accused of committing crimes against humanity during the war.
The government and others can now appeal against verdicts at the International Crimes Tribunal, set up in 2010 to try those Bangladeshis accused of collaborating with Pakistani forces and committing atrocities (grusomheder) during the war.
Critics say the amendment is aimed at the Jamaat, which opposed Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan.
Jamaat is an ally of the BNP, bitter political rivals of current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has made prosecuting war crimes a key goal of her government.
Human rights groups have said the tribunal falls short of international standards.
