Bangladesh's Supreme Court has upheld a death sentence against the chief of Bangladesh's largest Islamist party for crimes committed during the country's 1971 war of independence from Pakistan, officials say.
A four-member panel of appeals judges on Wednesday delivered the ruling against Matiur Rahman Nizami, 72, head of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party, upholding a verdict by a special war crimes tribunal that sentenced him to death in October 2014.
Nizami was convicted of genocide, rapes, incitement to religious hatred and other crimes against humanity during the war.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam expressed satisfaction with the ruling, saying that the court's verdict ensured justice.
"The execution is now subject to the judgement of a review bench," said Alam, adding that the defendant has the right to file a petition seeking review of the Supreme Court verdict.
Defence lawyer Khandaker Mahbub Hossain said a review petition would be filed only after the defendant expresses willingness to do so.
Three million people were killed, more than 200,000 women raped and numerous homesteads were torched during the nine-month conflict, according to government estimates.
The 72-year-old opposition politician was head of the wartime vigilante al-Badr group and the Jamaat-e-Islami's student wing, Islami Chhatra Sangha, which aided the Pakistani military against unarmed civilians.
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