Bangladesh executions – justice or political rivalry?

Two opposition leaders convicted of war crimes were hanged in Bangladesh on Sunday.

Last-minute appeals for Ali Mujahid and Salauddin Chowdhury were rejected by the president a day earlier.

The men were convicted two years ago by a special tribunal investigating abuses during Bangladesh’s 1971 war for independence from Pakistan.

But rights groups say their trial did not meet international standards, and some in the US Congress have called it a flawed means of political retribution.

So, was this score-settling between old political rivals or giving justice to victims of war?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Abbas Faiz – Senior Researcher on South Asia for Amnesty International

Mofidul Hoque – Liberation War Museum Trustee

John Cammegh – Former lead Defence Lawyer for the Bangladesh War Crime’s Tribunal