The senior Jamaat-e-Islami party leader, Abdul Quader Molla has been reportedly awarded a death sentence by Bangladesh Supreme Court for murder during the 1971 liberation war against Pakistan.
Molla, 65, is the first politician to be found guilty by the country's top court after it rejected an appeal to acquit him of all charges.
Prosecutor Ziad Al Malum said that the court enhanced his life sentence to the death penalty, adding that the order was a four-one majority decision of the Supreme Court, Dawn reports.
Meanwhile, defence lawyer Tajul Islam said that this is the first time in South Asian judicial history that a trial court sentence has been enhanced by a Supreme Court.
According to the report, the original life sentence delivered in February triggered widespread protests and violence leaving at least 100 people dead, over the apparent leniency of the sentence.
The protests forced parliament to change the war crimes laws, allowing the prosecution to appeal against the verdict and seek the death penalty in the Supreme Court.
