Two Bangladeshis have been convicted and sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity during the country's war of independence against Pakistan in 1971.
A special war crimes tribunal in Dhaka Sunday found Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan guilty of kidnapping and killing nine university professors, six journalists and three physicians. Prosecutors said the pair were members of the pro-Pakistani al-Badr militia, and carried out the murders as part of an effort to eliminate intellectuals from Bangladesh, then known as East Pakistan.
Mueen lives in Britain, while Khan resides in New York.
The tribunal has convicted at least nine people, including members of the Islamic Jamaat-e-Islami political party, triggering violent protests in the Muslim-majority country.
Bangladesh says 3 million people were killed during the 1971 conflict.
A special war crimes tribunal in Dhaka Sunday found Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan guilty of kidnapping and killing nine university professors, six journalists and three physicians. Prosecutors said the pair were members of the pro-Pakistani al-Badr militia, and carried out the murders as part of an effort to eliminate intellectuals from Bangladesh, then known as East Pakistan.
Mueen lives in Britain, while Khan resides in New York.
The tribunal has convicted at least nine people, including members of the Islamic Jamaat-e-Islami political party, triggering violent protests in the Muslim-majority country.
Bangladesh says 3 million people were killed during the 1971 conflict.
