Jama’at leader's death sentence commuted in Bangladesh
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Dhaka: Bangladesh's Supreme Court Wednesday commuted the death sentence of convicted Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee to "imprisonment till death".
The full bench of Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain ruled that the prominent war crime convict would have to remain imprisoned "for the rest of his natural life", bdnews24.com reported.
In February last year, the country's war crimes tribunal had given the death penalty to Sayedee on two counts of crimes against humanity.
The Jamaat-e-Islami leader, known as 'Deilya Razakar', was found guilty of crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971.
Sayedee's trial began in the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in 2011 on over 20 war crime charges against him.
The top Jamaat-e-Islami leader was given the death penalty for two -- the murders of Ibrahim Kutti and Bisabali, and for setting fire to Hindu households in Pirojpur district in 1971.
ICT prosecutor Turin Afroz said she welcomed the verdict although a maximum punishment was expected.
"We are yet to get the full verdict. Once it is available, we will understand where more facts and evidence were needed," she said.
Nearly 100 people, including policemen, were killed as Jamaat activists went on a rampage in different parts of the country when the tribunal sentenced Sayedee to death last year.
