Abdul Quader Mollah

Charges filed against Quader Mollah by ICT were:[31]

• Charge 1: On Quader Molla's instruction, one of his aides named Akhter killed Pallab, a student of Bangla College and an organiser of the Liberation War, on 5 April 1971. Pallab was buried by the side of Kalapani Jheel along with several other bodies. Pallab was taken to an Eidgah at Mirpur-12, where he was shot to death.
• Charge 2: On 27 March 1971, Quader Molla's aides murdered pro-liberation poet Meherun Nesa, her mother and two brothers at their house at Mirpur-6.
• Charge 3: On 29 March 1971, Abdul Quader Mollah along with other members of Al Badr, Razakar and non-Bangalees detained Khandakar Abu Taleb from Mirpur 10 bus stand and tied him up with a rope. He was brought to the Mirpur Jallad Khana Pump House and killed.
• Charge 4: On 25 November 1971, Quader Mollah with his 70 accomplices went to the village of Khanbari and Ghotan Char, now Shaheed Nagar of Keraniganj, and abducted two unarmed freedom fighters from the house of Mozaffar Ahmed Khan. Freedom fighters Osman Gani and Golam Mostafa were brutally murdered by charging bayonet.
• Charge 5: Attack and indiscriminate shooting by Quader Mollah and his gang killed hundreds of unarmed people of the two villages. Among them, 24 persons were named in the charge. On the early morning of 24 April, members of Pakistan occupation forces and around 50 non-Bangalees in the presence of Quader Mollah raided Alubdi village of Mirpur and attacked unarmed villagers, killing 344 people.
• Charge 6: On 26 March 1971 in the evening, some Bihari and Pakistani soldiers led by Quader Mollah killed Hazrat Ali and five members of his family at Mirpur. Entering his house, the soldiers shot dead Hazrat and killed wife Amina and daughters Khadija and Tahmina. That day they also killed his only son, two-year-old Babu, by bashing the baby against the ground.

On 5 February 2013, Mollah was convicted of five of the six charges, and acquitted on one charge as it was determined it had not been proved by the prosecution. He was sentenced to life in prison and an additional 15 years for three of the charges in addition to the time he had been imprisoned since his arrest. The one remaining charge was dismissed after it was determined the prosecution had not proved it.[32]

When the court gave him a life sentence instead of the death penalty, which many expected, a smiling Mollah celebrated the verdict by holding up two fingers in a "V" sign as he left the court.[33]

Many activists reacted by protesting and demonstrating, demanding the death penalty and an end to extremism in politics. A major protest started at the Shahbag intersection in central Dhaka.[34][35] Bloggers and online activists called for further mass demonstration at Shahbag intersection.[13][36] Thousands of people joined the protest and the demonstration culminated in the 2013 Shahbag protests.[37]

During the protests, hundreds of thousands of people held day-and-night vigils at Shahbag, refusing to leave until all those convicted of war crimes were sentenced to death.[38] A counter-protest against the trials and general strike was launched by Jamaat-e-Islami, as most of the accused were Jamaat leaders.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had initially expressed support for Jamaat-e-Islami, a principal ally in their Four-Party Alliance in the 2000s.[39] The BNP has commented on the Shahbag Protest, warning that the government should not be allowed to draw political mileage from the movement that demanded capital punishment for convicted war criminals.[40]

Responding to the demand of the Shahbag activists, on 13 February 2013, the National Press Club of Bangladesh stripped Quader Mollah of his membership.[27] On 17 February 2013, the Bangladeshi Parliament passed a bill amending the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act of 1973 which allowed the government, complainant, or informant to appeal an order of acquittal or order of sentencing.[14]

Jamaat members have also led protests against the trials, saying that the government is trying to suppress the opposition. It called for a general strike in Dhaka, shutting down activity in the city.

In December 2012, conversations and emails between the chief judge of the ICT, Nizamul Huq, and a Brussels-based lawyer were published in The Economist, which revealed that the Bangladesh Government had pressured the ICT for a quick verdict.[41] Following the revelations, Justice Nizamul Huq resigned from the tribunal.[41] The European Union, the UK, Turkey and Australia expressed their concern as they believed the death penalty violated human rights.[42][43] Two UN Human Rights Commission experts called on to halt the execution because of concerns that Abdul Quader Mollah did not receive a fair trial.[4]"The right of appeal is of particular importance in death penalty cases," said the Special Rapporteur (UN) on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul.[44] Christof Heyns, Special Rapporteur (UN) on summary executions, said capital punishment "may be imposed only following a trial that complied with fair trial and due process safeguards. Only full respect for stringent due process guarantees distinguishes capital punishment as possibly permitted under international law from a summary execution, which by definition violates human rights standards."[45] The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) says the retrospective application of the amendment in Abdul Quader Molla's case is incompatible with Bangladesh's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), including Article 15, which prohibits the imposition of a heavier penalty than provided for at the time the criminal offence was committed.[46] Baroness Warsi stated, "We further note that Abdul Quader Mollah was sentenced to death following an appeal permitted under retrospectively applied legislation, and that he was not permitted to review his sentence before the Supreme Court".[47] Human Rights Watch said that the death sentence of Abdul Quader Mollah violates fair trial standards, stating "Changing the law and applying it retroactively after a trial offends basic notions of a fair trial under international law."[48]

After the government had amended the war crimes law to allow a sentence to be appealed based on leniency of punishment, prosecutors appealed to the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and asked for it to upgrade Molla's sentence from life in prison to death.[49] On 17 September 2013, the Supreme Court accepted the appeal and sentenced Mollah to death.[15] He was not given a right to appeal, as the war crimes law under which he was prosecuted did not have a provision granting that right.[49] Mollah was one of five leaders of the largest Islamic Party, Jamaat-e-Islami condemned to death by Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal.[50] He was scheduled to be executed by hanging on 11 December 2013 at 0:01.[17] On 8 December, the International Crimes Tribunal issued an execution warrant for Molla, and delivered it to the relevant authorities. Prisons chief Main Uddin Khandaker then said that all preparations had been made and that Quader Molla's family had been asked to meet him prior to the execution. Mollah refused to ask for a presidential pardon though the authorities approached him thrice on the matter.[51][52]

Molla's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to halt the execution and allow him to appeal, as Bangladesh's constitution grants all death row prisoners the right of appeal. Supreme Court chamber judge Syed Mahmoud Hossain accepted these arguments issued a stay of execution order to give Mollah time to appeal on 11 December 2013, just 90 minutes before he was scheduled to be executed.[18][49] Following two hours of hearings, Chief Justice Muzammel Hossain adjourned the hearing till the next day. Amongst the defence's arguments was that the state was proceeding with preparations for the execution without completing all necessary legal procedures.[53]

The appellate division of Bangladesh Supreme Court, which raised Quader Molla's life sentence to a death penalty, rejected his petition to review the ruling.[54] Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said that the government would decide on a new execution date as "there are no more barriers to execute Quader Mollah. There is no chance of any confusion." His lawyer, Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, added that "my client has been deprived of fair justice, but since the highest court has made the decision, we have nothing more to say."[55]

Quader Mollah was hanged in Dhaka Central Jail on 12 December 2013 at 22:01.[1][56] The Bangladesh Jamaat-E-Islami called it a "political killing". More significantly, a segment of Bangladeshi people and some human rights observant in Bangladesh and abroad, they do, believe the hanged of Quader Mollah was not only a "political killing" but also a "judicial killing."[57] He was later buried in his village of Faridpur.[58]

•  Qatar – The state of Qatar condemned the execution and stated that it was concerned that Molla's death would exacerbate tensions.[64]
•  Pakistan - The National Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan passed a resolution vote to condemn the hanging of Abdul Quader Molla.[65] Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan described the punishment of Bangladesh Jamaat-i-Islami leader as "judicial murder".[66]

• Muslim Council of Britain – "It is a sad day for Bangladesh and sad day for democracy and justice. The trial process of Abdul Quader Mollah was fraught with flaws and the international community including the UN and all respected Human Rights organisations world over strongly criticised the trial as unfair, biased and politically driven."[67]
• Islamic Circle of North America – "This is a political murder and a dark day for justice."[68]