Ex-minister gets death for war crimes in B’desh

Dhaka, December 23

A former Bangladeshi minister was today sentenced to death by a special tribunal for committing crimes against humanity by siding with Pakistani troops during the country’s 1971 liberation war.

The three-member panel of International Crimes Tribunal-2 handed down the capital punishment to Syed Mohammad Kaisar as he appeared on the dock under tight security escorts from Dhaka Central Jail. “He (Kaisar) shall be hanged by neck until he is dead,” chairman of the panel Justice Obaidul Hassan pronounced.

A minister in the cabinet of former military ruler HM Ershad , Kaisar had constituted a special militia force to carryout atrocities in north-eastern Habiganj, his hometown, and neighbouring Brahmanbaria. — PTI