Abdul Quader Molla (Bengali: ?????? ????? ??????

; 14 August 1948 12 December 201 3)[3] was an Islamist leader and politician of the largest Islamic party of Bang ladesh Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, who was tried and sentenced to death for war crimes despite objections from UN, different countries and international Human r ights organizations.[4][5][6] He was convicted on five of six counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes at his trial at the Bangladeshi International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), on 5 Febru ary 2013. A member of the Al-Badar militia during the liberation war, Molla was convicted of killing 344 civilians and other crimes.[5][7] He was sentenced to l ife in prison.[8] As a direct result of the sentence the 2013 Shahbag protests b egan with the protesters demanding capital punishment for all those on trial.[9] The protest spread from Dhaka to other parts of the country. Protesters called for those convicted of war crimes to be sentenced to capital punishment, and als o to ban Jamaat-e-Islami.[10] Jamaat-e-Islami started a violent counter-protest in the country, demanding the release of its convicted and accused leaders.[11] On 17 September 2013, after an amendment to the ICT law which allowed the govern ment, complainant, or informant to appeal an order of acquittal or order of sent encing,[12] the Bangladesh Supreme Court found Molla guilty of murders and other war crimes and his life sentence was converted to a death sentence.[13][14] He was scheduled to be executed by hanging on 11 December,[15] but because the exec ution was suspended[16] and then upheld, he was executed on 12 December,[17] bec oming the first person to have been executed for crimes committed during the Ban gladesh Liberation War. Contents [hide] 1 Early life 2 Political career 3 War crimes trial 3.1 Charges 3.2 Verdict 3.3 Reaction after verdict 3.4 Controversies 3.5 Conviction and execution 3.6 Reaction after execution 4 References Early life Abdul Quader Molla was born in the village of Amirabad, Faridpur, in 1948. He at tended school at Amirabad Fazlul Huq Institute. He passed the H.S.C examination in 1966 and did B.Sc in 1968 from Rajendra College.[18] Then he completed his Di ploma in Education in 1975 and Master in Educational Administration in 1977 from the Dhaka University Institution of Education and Research[citation needed]. Wh ile studying there, he was elected president of the Shahidullah Hall unit of the Islami Chatra Sangha.[5][19] Quader Molla worked as a senior teacher at Rifles Public School and College (now Bir Shreshtha Noor Mohammad Public College). He l ater became the acting principal of the institute. He was elected as the Vice Pr esident of Dhaka Journalists Union for two consecutive terms in 1982 and 1983.[20 ][21] Molla was married to Sanoara Jahan.[22] Political career In 1971 leaders of Jamaat opposed the independence movement in East Pakistan, as they believed it went against Islam to break up the Muslim state. As a member o f Islami Chatra Sangha, Quader Molla joined its paramilitary force, Al-Badar, du ring the liberation war,[5][11][23] but Bangladesh achieved independence that ye ar. Jamaat was banned from political participation under the new government. After assassination of the president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975 and a militar y coup, the new government permitted Jamaat to participate in politics again. Qu ader Molla became active in the party. By 2010 he was assistant secretary genera l of the party.[11] He was elected to the Bangladesh National Press Club, in rec ognition of his status.[24] War crimes trial

In the 21st century, the government of Bangladesh established an International C rimes Tribunal to prosecute war crimes that were committed in 1971 during the li beration war. A formal charge was filed by the Prosecution against Abdul Quader Molla on 18 December 2011 in the form of a petition, as required under Section 9 (1) of the 1973 Act.[25] He was charged with abetting the Pakistani army and actively participating in th e 1971 Bangladesh atrocities: rape (including the rape of minors) and mass murde r of Bangladeshis in the Mirpur area of Dhaka during the Bangladesh Liberation W ar. A member of the Rajakar militia during the war, Molla was charged with killi ng 344 civilians.[5][7][26] He was notoriously known as the "Butcher of Mirpur" during the 1971 Liberation war of Bangladesh.[27][28] As The Independent reporte d: "Abdul Quader Mollah, the assistant secretary-general of Bangladesh s Jamaat-e-Isl ami party, sparked protests when he emerged from Bangladesh's Supreme Court on 4 February having been handed a life sentence for his role in the atrocities comm itted during the 1971 war for independence. He was clearly happy with the ruling giving a victory sign to supporters outside the court. But critics of the so-ca lled Butcher of Mirpur who was convicted of beheading a poet, raping an 11-yearold girl and shooting 344 people have been left fuming over the sentence, and ar e calling for him to face the death sentence, like fellow accused Abul Kalam Aza d."[11][29] Charges Charges filed against Quader Mollah by ICT are:[30] Charge 1: On Quader Molla s instruction, one of his aides named Akhter killed Pall ab, a student of Bangla College and an organiser of the Liberation War, on April 5, 1971. Pallab was buried by the side of Kalapani Jheel along with several oth er bodies. Pallab was taken to an Eidgah at Mirpur-12, where he was shot to deat h. Charge 2: On March 27, 1971, Quader Molla and his aides murdered pro-liberation poet Meherun Nesa, her mother and two brothers at their house at Mirpur-6. Charge 3: On March 29, 1971, Abdul Quader Molla along with other members of Al B adr, Razakar and non-Bangalees detained Khandakar Abu Taleb from Mirpur 10 bus s tand and tied him up with a rope. He was brought to the Mirpur Jallad Khana Pump House and killed. Charge 4: On November 25, 1971, Quader Molla with his 70 accomplices went to the village of Khanbari and Ghotan Char, now Shaheed Nagar of Keraniganj, and abduc ted 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 Molla and his gang killed hundreds of unarmed people of the two villages. Among them, 24 persons were nam ed in the charge. On the early morning of April 24, members of Pakistan occupati on forces and around 50 non-Bangalees in presence of Quader Molla raided Alubdi village of Mirpur and attacked on unarmed villagers, killing 344 people. Charge 6: On March 26 of 1971 at evening by led of Quader Molla, some Bihari and Pakistani soldiers killed Hazrat Ali and five members of his family at Mirpur. Entering His house Quader Molla shot dead Hazrat and killed wife Amina and daugh ters Khadija and Tahmina. That day they killed his only two years old son Babu b y dashing the baby against the ground. Verdict Under section 20(3) of the Act of 1973, the International Crimes Tribunal announ ced a verdict and handed down a life sentence to Abdul Quader Molla on 5 Februar y 2013 for two of the six charges and an additional 15-year sentence for three o f the charges in addition to the time he had been imprisoned since his arrest. T he one remaining charge was not proved in the tribunal by the prosecution.[31] Reaction after verdict Some activists protested and demonstrated, demanding the death penalty and an en d to extremism in politics. A major protest started at the Shahbag intersection in central Dhaka.[32][33] Bloggers and online activists called for further mass

demonstration at Shahbag intersection.[10][34] Thousands of people joined the pr otest and the demonstration culminated in the 2013 Shahbag protests.[35] Since the start of protests, tens of thousands of people have been holding day-a nd-night vigils at Shahbag, refusing to leave until all those convicted of war c rimes are sentenced to capital punishment.[36] A counter protest against the tri als and general strike was launched by Jamaat-e-Islami, as most of the accused h ave been Jamaat leaders. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had initially expressed support for Jamaa t-e-Islami, a principal ally in their Four-Party Alliance in the 2000s.[37] 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 pu nishment for convicted war criminals.[38] Responding to the demand of the Shahbag activists, on 13 February 2013, the Nati onal Press Club of Bangladesh stripped Quader Molla of his membership.[24] On 17 February 2013, the Bangladeshi Parliament passed a bill amending the Internatio nal Crimes (Tribunal) Act of 1973 which allowed the government, complainant, or informant to appeal an order of acquittal or order of sentencing.[12][39] Jamaat members have also led protests against the trials, saying that the govern ment is trying to suppress the opposition. It called for a general strike in Dha ka, shutting down activity in the city. Controversies See also: 2012 ICT Skype controversy In December 2012, conversations and emails between the chief judge of the ICT, N izamul Huq, and a Brussels-based lawyer were published in The Economist, which r evealed that the Bangladesh Government had pressured the International Crimes Tr ibunal for a quick verdict.[40] Following the revelations, the chief Justice Niz amul Huq later resigned from the post.[40] The European Union, the UK, Turkey an d Australia expressed their concern as they believe the death penalty violates h uman rights.[41][42] United Nations urged Bangladesh to halt the execution of Qu ader Mollah.[43] Baroness Warsi stated, "We further note that Abdul Quader Mollah was sentenced t o death following an appeal permitted under retrospectively applied legislation, and that he was not permitted to review his sentence before the Supreme Court". [44] Human Rights Watch said that the death sentence of Abdul Quader Molla viola tes fair trial standards, stating "Changing the law and applying it retroactivel y after a trial offends basic notions of a fair trial under international law."[ 45] Two UN Human Rights Commission experts called on to halt the execution because o f concerns that Abdul Quader Molla did not receive a fair trial.[4] The right of a ppeal is of particular importance in death penalty cases, said the Special Rappor teur (UN) on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul.[46] Christo f Heyns, Special Rapporteur (UN) on summary executions, said capital punishment "may be imposed only following a trial that complied with fair trial and due pro cess safeguards. Only full respect for stringent due process guarantees distingu ishes capital punishment as possibly permitted under international law from a su mmary execution, which by definition violates human rights standards."[47] The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) says the retrospective application of the amendment in Abdul Quader Molla s case is incompatible with Bangladesh s obl igations 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.[48] Conviction and execution On 17 September 2013, the Bangladesh Supreme Court found Molla guilty of murders and other war crimes and ordered his execution, converting his life sentence to a death sentence.[13] Molla was one of five leaders of the largest Islamic Part y, Jamaat-e-Islami condemned to death by Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribu nal.[49] He was scheduled to be executed by hanging on 11 December at 0:01,[15] but later the execution was suspended until further notice.[16] The execution or der was signed on 8 December. 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. Molla refused to appeal for a presidential pard on though authorities approached him thrice.[50][51] His lawyers said that he ha d a "constitutional right" to appeal, which was when the stay was granted. Follo wing 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 proce eding with preparations for the execution without completing all necessary legal procedures.[52] 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.[53 ] 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 mad e the decision, we have nothing more to say."[54] Quader Molla was executed on 1 2 December at 22:01 in a Dhaka jail.[55] The JEI called it a "political killing. "[56] He was later buried in his village of Faridpur.[57] Reaction after execution After the schedule and the execution of Quader Molla, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islam started violent protest and called for general strike on 11, 12 and 15 December 2013. Almost 25 persons died and many other injured in different parts of the co untry during their protests.[58][54] During the protests JEI activists torched h omes and businesses of government supporters and firebombed train stations and b locked roads. The party called the execution "political murder" and warned of ex acting revenge for "every drop" of his blood. Two activists from the ruling Awam i League were hacked to death in Kalaroa; one other person died in clashes betwe en police and JEI supporters in Noakhali, while a driver was reportedly killed a fter JEI protesters chased him down.[56] As a result of the violent reaction, an d in combination with violence in the lead up to the controversial Bangladeshi g eneral election, 2014, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina vowed to crack down on the v iolence.[59] The rioting, and the preceding opposition blockade, has caused econ omic losses, while there is fear of intensification prior to the election.[60] P rotests against his execution were also held in London and Turkey.[61] The Turki sh prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has deeply condemned the execution callin g it a mistake that history will not forgive. [62] References Jump up ^ "Summary of verdict in Quader Mollah case". The Daily Star. 6 February 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013. Jump up ^ Tahmima Anam (13 February 2013). "Shahbag protesters versus the Butche r of Mirpur". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 December 2013. ^ Jump up to: a b Quader Molla hangs finally for war crimes bdnews24. 12 Decembe r 2012. ^ Jump up to: a b "Bangladesh hangs Islamist leader despite U.N. objections". CN N. 12 December 2013. Web link. Retrieved 13 December 2013. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Summary of verdict in Quader Mollah case". The Daily St ar. 6 February 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2013. Jump up ^ "Bangladesh jails Islamic party leader for life". The Guardian. 5 Febr uary 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2013. ^ Jump up to: a b "Bangladesh Islamist sentenced to life in prison for war crime s". 5 February 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2013.[dead link] Jump up ^ "Huge Bangladesh rally seeks death penalty for War Crimes". BBC. 8 Feb ruary 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2013. Jump up ^ Al-Mahmood, Syed Zain (23 February 2013). "Bangladesh split as violenc e escalates over war crimes protests". The Observer. ^ Jump up to: a b "Bangladesh's rising voices". Al Jazeera. 19 February 2013. Re trieved 21 February 2013. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Philip Hensher (19 February 2013). "The war Bangladesh can never forget". The Independent. Retrieved 26 February 2013. ^ Jump up to: a b "Amendment of International Crimes Tribunal Act of 1973". The Bangladesh Trial Observer. 7 March 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.

^ Jump up to: a b "Case history". Supreme Court. Retrieved 12 December 2013. Jump up ^ "Mirpur butcher Molla must die, says SC". bdnews24. 17 September 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013. ^ Jump up to: a b Star Online Report. "Mollah execution stayed; Late evening mov e earns stay till 10:30am tomorrow". The Daily Star. Retrieved 11 December 2013. ^ Jump up to: a b "Molla's fate hangs in the balance". bdnews24. 17 September 20 13. Retrieved 11 December 2013. Jump up ^ "????? ??????? ????? ???????". Prothom-alo. 13 December 2013.