Abdul Quader Mollah

Abdul Quader Mollah
আব্দুল কাদের মোল্লা
Born(1948-08-14)14 August 1948
Faridpur, East Pakistan
Died12 December 2013(2013-12-12) (aged 65)
Old Dhaka Central Jail, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Cause of deathExecution by hanging
Resting placeFaridpur Sadar, Bangladesh
Alma materUniversity of Dhaka
Occupation(s)Politician, Spiritual Leader
OrganizationJamaat-e-Islami
Known forIslamic Leader, Politics
Criminal statusExecuted
SpouseSanoara Jahan Peyari
Conviction(s)War crimes
Crimes against humanity
TrialInternational Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh)
Criminal penaltyDeath

Abdul Quader Mollah (Bengali: আব্দুল কাদের মোল্লা; 14 August 1948 – 12 December 2013)[1] was a Bangladeshi Islamist leader, writer,[2] and politician of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, who was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh (ICT) set up by the government of Bangladesh and hanged. The United Nations raised objections to the trial's fairness,[3] while the general public in Bangladesh widely supported the execution.[4][5]

He was convicted on five of six counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes at his trial on 5 February 2013. A member of the Al-Badr militia during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, Mollah was convicted of killing 344 civilians among many other war crimes,[6][7] and was sentenced to life in prison.[8] This led to the 2013 Shahbag protests that demanded capital punishment for the convicted war criminals[9] and the disbandment of Jamaat-e-Islami.[10] Jamaat-e-Islami started a violent counter-protest in the country, demanding the release of its convicted and accused leaders.

On 17 September 2013, after an amendment to the ICT law allowing the government, complainant, or informant to appeal an order of acquittal or order of sentencing,[11] the Bangladesh Supreme Court ruled Mollah guilty of murders and other war crimes, and converted his life sentence to a death sentence.[12][13] He was scheduled to be executed by hanging on 11 December.[14] Due to more legal challenges, the execution was suspended[15] and then upheld; he was executed on 12 December.[16] He was the first person to have been executed for crimes committed during the Bangladesh Liberation War.

Quader Mollah had unsuccessfully stood for parliament in 1986 and 1996, contesting the seat Faridpur-4 for Jamaat-e-Islami.[17]

  1. ^ Tanim Ahmed; Biswadip Das (12 December 2012). "Quader Molla hangs, finally, for war crimes". bdnews24.com.
  2. ^ "Bangladesh Islamist Abdul Kader Mullah hanged for war crimes". BBC News. 12 December 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  3. ^ Tania Rashid (12 December 2013). "Bangladesh hangs Islamist leader despite U.N. objections". CNN. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  4. ^ Wasim Bin Habib; Tuhin Shubhra Adhikary (13 December 2013). "Butcher of Mirpur hanged". The Daily Star.
  5. ^ Jason Burke; Saad Hammadi (12 December 2013). "Bangladesh braces for violent protests after hanging of opposition leader". The Guardian.
  6. ^ "Summary of verdict in Quader Mollah case". The Daily Star. 6 February 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  7. ^ Anis Ahmed (5 February 2013). "Bangladesh Islamist sentenced to life in prison for war crimes". Yahoo. Reuters. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  8. ^ "Huge Bangladesh rally seeks death penalty for War Crimes". BBC. 8 February 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  9. ^ Syed Zain Al-Mahmood (23 February 2013). "Bangladesh split as violence escalates over war crimes protests". The Observer.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference ajstream-1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "Amendment of International Crimes Tribunal Act of 1973". The Bangladesh Trial Observer. 7 March 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  12. ^ "Case history". Supreme Court. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  13. ^ Biswadip Das; Suliman Niloy (17 September 2013). "Mirpur butcher Molla must die, says SC". bdnews24. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  14. ^ "Mollah execution stayed". The Daily Star. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  15. ^ "Molla's fate hangs in the balance". bdnews24. 17 September 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  16. ^ কাদের মোল্লার ফাঁসি কার্যকর. Prothom-alo (in Bengali). 13 December 2013. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  17. ^ কাদের মোল্লার যাবজ্জীবন : দ্বিতীয় রায় [Kader Molla life sentence: the second verdict]. Amar Desh (in Bengali). 6 February 2013. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.