Abdul Kader Mullah jailed for life

A war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh has found a leader of the main Islamist party guilty of crimes against humanity during the war for independence from Pakistan in 1971

Abdul Kader Mullah, of Jamaat-e-Islami, was sentenced to life in prison. He denied all the charges.
Official estimates say more than three million people were killed in the war.
But the trial has sparked protests from supporters who accuse the government of pursuing a political vendetta .
Thousands marched through the capital, Dhaka, on Monday, demanding the release of their leaders.
There were reports of clashes between police and protesters, while the AFP news agency quoted police as saying they had fired rubber bullets.
Jamaat has called a national strike for Tuesday.
‘Witch hunt’
Twelve people in total are standing trial, including a number of leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami and a former minister from the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
All of the people currently indicted by the tribunal deny the charges and opposition leaders accuse the government of carrying out a political vendetta.
Abdur Razzaq, the lead lawyer for the Jamaat leaders facing trial, described the tribunal as “a witch hunt”.
Human rights groups have also said the tribunal falls short of international standards.
Last month, in the first conviction of the tribunal, former leader of the party Abul Kalam Azad was found guilty in absentia of eight charges of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death.
The special court was set up in 2010 by the Bangladeshi government deal with those accused of collaborating with Pakistani forces who attempted to stop East Pakistan (as Bangladesh was then) from becoming an independent country.
Bangladesh government figures estimate more than three million people were killed during the independence war, although some researchers put the figure at between 300,000 and 500,000.