Bangladesh Jamaat calls strike after apex court upholds party chief's death penalty

Bangladesh's largest Islamist party has called a two-day national strike after the country's apex court Thursday morning upheld its previous verdict on its chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, rejecting his plea for reviewing death penalty for crimes against humanity during the country's war of independence in 1971.

Shortly after the Appellate Division bench of Bangladesh Supreme Court (SC) dismissed the final review petition of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party's Ameer (president) Nizami who is now behind the bar, the party called the 48-hour nationwide hartal for May 8 and 9, protesting what it referred to as "the government hatching conspiracy to kill the party chief."

In a statement, Jamaat made the announcement of strike and once again pleaded Nizami's innocence and claimed that he had no links with war crimes in 1971.

"Nizami was deprived of justice," said the statement.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told journalists shortly after the apex court ruling that there is no legal bar for the state machinery to execute Nizami anytime following the dismissal if he is reluctant to seek mercy from the president.

He said the trial met the proper standards.

The Islamist party leader filed final review petition with the Supreme Court on March 29 against its verdict that upheld death sentence.

Bangladesh's Supreme Court on Jan. 6 upheld a death penalty for the 74-year-old Nizami over war crimes during the country's war of independence 45 years ago.

Nizami was indicted in 2012 with 16 charges of crimes against humanity during the 1971 war. Endit