AL hails SC verdict, BNP keeps mum

The Awami League has welcomed the Supreme Court verdict upholding Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem Ali's death penalty for war crimes.

The BNP, however, kept mum like it did in the past after judgments were delivered in war crimes cases against other Jamaat leaders.

Jamaat, meanwhile, has called a daylong countrywide shutdown for today, protesting and condemning "the government's conspiracy to kill Quasem", a member of the Islamist party's central executive council.

The call was posted on the party's website yesterday following the Appellate Division verdict that confirmed the death sentence awarded to the former Al-Badr leader by the International Crimes Tribunal in November 2014.

Hailing the verdict, the ruling AL brought out a procession in front of the party headquarters on the Bangabandhu Avenue.

Talking to the press at his Karwan Bazar office, AL Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif said the judgment once again proved that no one can influence the apex court.

"The verdict has fulfilled the expectations of the nation and so, we all are happy with it."

The party now wants speedy execution of the verdict, he said.

"Through its execution, the nation would take one step forward to get rid of a stigma," he added.

The Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) too hailed the verdict.

In a statement, CPB President Mujahidul Islam Selim and General Secretary Syed Abu Zafor Ahmed demanded immediate execution of the verdict and ban on Jamaat-Shibir.

They also demanded that a high-powered commission be formed to try the forces, both at home and abroad, that were involved in the war crimes during the 1971 Liberation War.

JAMAAT MEN HELD

Two Jamaat activists were detained yesterday morning when, police claim, they tried to vandalise vehicles in the capital's Mouchak area.

Around 20-25 Jamaat activists brought out a procession around 11:30am following the SC verdict that upheld the death penalty for Mir Quasem Ali, Officer-in-Charge Mashiur Rahman of Ramna Police Station told The Daily Star.

As they tried to vandalise vehicles, police intervened and opened fire, he said.

The detained Jamaat activists -- Sumon, 25, and another unnamed youth aged around 22 -- were hit by shotgun pellets during the incident, the OC added.

Sumon took treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, according to a hospital source.

In Narayanganj, the Bandar Thana unit Jamaat brought out a procession, protesting the SC verdict.

Police arrested a local Jamaat leader named Saidur Rahman, 50, from the procession, reports our Narayanganj correspondent.