A landmark amendment that will allow the prosecution to try and punish any individuals and organisations, including the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami, for the 1971 war crimes received assent from the Bangladeshi President on Monday. ‘He (President Zillur Rahman) signed the bill into law... assenting the International Crimes Tribunals (Amendment) Bill, 2013,’ a Bangabhaban presidential palace spokesman said.
The presidential assent came as the parliament on Sunday night passed the bill empowering the special tribunals to try organisations alongside individuals for ‘crimes against humanity’ during the country 1971 liberation war against Pakistan. Before the amendment, the 1973 war crimes law allowed only the convicts to appeal against any conviction.
The government brought the changes to the law in the wake of the ongoing mass movement at Shahbagh in the capital and elsewhere in the country. Law ministry officials said the changes in the law would have retrospective effect from 14 July, 2009.
THREE KILLED IN VIOLENCE
At least three persons were killed in clashes in Bangladesh as fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami enforced a nationwide general strike on Monday to protest their leaders' ongoing trial for 1971 war crimes.
The strike called by the JI received a lukewarm response as its crucial ally and main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) declined to extend its support for the bandh unlike previous occasions. Witnesses said JI activists adopted a hit and run tactic in Dhaka and several other cities amid a clarion call by hundreds of young protestors at Shahbagh Square here to defy the strike.
The presidential assent came as the parliament on Sunday night passed the bill empowering the special tribunals to try organisations alongside individuals for ‘crimes against humanity’ during the country 1971 liberation war against Pakistan. Before the amendment, the 1973 war crimes law allowed only the convicts to appeal against any conviction.
The government brought the changes to the law in the wake of the ongoing mass movement at Shahbagh in the capital and elsewhere in the country. Law ministry officials said the changes in the law would have retrospective effect from 14 July, 2009.
THREE KILLED IN VIOLENCE
At least three persons were killed in clashes in Bangladesh as fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami enforced a nationwide general strike on Monday to protest their leaders' ongoing trial for 1971 war crimes.
The strike called by the JI received a lukewarm response as its crucial ally and main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) declined to extend its support for the bandh unlike previous occasions. Witnesses said JI activists adopted a hit and run tactic in Dhaka and several other cities amid a clarion call by hundreds of young protestors at Shahbagh Square here to defy the strike.