THE head of the largest Islamist party in Bangladesh has been sentenced to death for his role in the deaths of thousands during the nation's independence war against Pakistan in 1971.
The head of a special tribunal, M Enayetur Rahim, announced the verdict against Motiur Rahman Nizami in a packed courtroom in the nation's capital of Dhaka. The 71-year-old Nizami was in the dock for the announcement.
Nizami, a former Cabinet minister, was tried on 16 charges including genocide, murder, torture, rape and destruction of property.
Bangladesh says Pakistani soldiers, aided by local collaborators, killed three million people, raped 200,000 women and forced about 10 million people to take shelter in refugee camps across the border in neighbouring India during the nine-month war.
His party said the people of Bangladesh were "surprised, stunned and deeply sad" at the sentence.
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