World

Bangladesh court commutes death sentence of Islamist to imprisonment until death

Associated Press
Published | Updated

A Bangladeshi campaigner for capital punishment for all war crime suspects involved in the 1971 war of independence holds a noose during a protest against a court ruling commuting the death sentence of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014. Sayedee must remain in prison "for the rest of his natural life," Chief Justice Muzammel Hossain said. A war crimes tribunal convicted the Islamist political leader in February 2013 for eight counts involving mass killings, rape and atrocities committed during the nine-month war against Pakistan in 1971. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad) (The Associated Press)

A Bangladeshi lawyer representing Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee leaves the Supreme Court after a ruling commuting the death sentence of the Islamist political leader for war crimes during the nation's 1971 war for independence, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014. Sayedee must remain in prison "for the rest of his natural life," Chief Justice Muzammel Hossain said. A war crimes tribunal convicted Sayedee in February 2013 for eight counts involving mass killings, rape and atrocities committed during the nine-month war against Pakistan in 1971. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad) (The Associated Press)

A Bangladeshi holds high his national flag as police use a water cannon to break up a protest against a court ruling commuting the death sentence of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014. Sayedee must remain in prison "for the rest of his natural life," Chief Justice Muzammel Hossain said. A war crimes tribunal convicted the Islamist political leader in February 2013 for eight counts involving mass killings, rape and atrocities committed during the nine-month war against Pakistan in 1971. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad) (The Associated Press)

Bangladesh's Supreme Court has commuted the death sentence for a leader of an Islamic political party to imprisonment until death for war crimes during the nation's 1971 independence war against Pakistan.

The original sentencing of Delwar Hossain Sayedee, a leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, sparked riots last year.

Chief Justice Muzammel Hossain of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court said Sayedee would remain imprisoned "for the rest of his natural life."