A tribunal has sentenced former Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Abdul Khalek Mondol and Khan Rokunuzzaman to death for their involvement in crimes against humanity in Satkhira during the Liberation War, bdnews24.com reports.
A three-member panel of the International Crimes Tribunal led by Justice Shahinur Islam delivered the verdict on Thursday.
Khalek was in the dock as the verdict was read out but Rokunuzzanan is absconding.
In 1971, Khalek served the anti-Bangladesh paramilitary force Razakar as an organiser in Satkhira while Rokunuzzaman was a member of the group.
According to the case dossier, the duo collaborated with the Pakistani occupation army to commit a series of crimes, including murder and rape, across Satkhira.
They were charged with six counts of war crimes, all of which were proved beyond a reasonable doubt by the prosecution, the tribunal said in its verdict.
Khalek was implicated in a case filed in July 2009 for slaying five people in Satkhira during the war of liberation.
The case was started by Nazrul Islam Gazi whose father, Rustam Ali Gazi of Satkhira Sadar's Shimulbaria village, was one of the victims of Khalek's wartime atrocities. The matter was later referred to the International Crimes Tribunal.
Mondol, a Jamaat policymaker, was later arrested on Jun 16, 2015 at a madrasa in Satkhira Sadar Upazila on charges of conspiracy to incite violence.
The ICT's probe panel later conducted an investigation into the case from August 2015 to February 2017.
The panel submitted its findings against Khalek, Rokunuzzaman and two others on Feb 8, 2017. Their trial subsequently opened in April 2018, with the court hearing the testimonies of 17 witnesses before reaching its verdict.