November 3, 2013
A Special Court in Dhaka has sentenced two former leaders of the al-Badr killing squad to death for war crimes committed during Bangladesh’s war of liberation in 1971. Chowdhury Mueen Uddin, a Muslim leader based in London, and Ashrafuzzaman Khan, based in the US, were sentenced in absentia after the court found that they were involved in the abduction and murders of 18 people – nine Dhaka University teachers, six journalists and three physicians – in December 1971.
Prosecutor Sahidur Rahman told The Independent that he hoped that attempts by the Bangladesh government to bring the pair back to Bangladesh for punishment would be successful.
“Ashraf is a US citizen now, residing in Jamaica of New York City,” said Rahman. He is also involved with the Islamic Circle of North America.
During the trial, the prosecution had also informed the Court that Mueen, besides being the former chairman of the East London Mosque, he was also formerly Director of the Muslim Spiritual Care Provision in the UK’s National Health Service, according to his website.
The Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/uk-muslim-leader-chowdhury-mueen-uddin-sentenced-to-death-in-bangladesh-8919895.html
