Bangladesh court sentences five opposition party men to death in absentia

A Bangladesh court sentenced five men to death in absentia for "atrocities" perpetrated during the country's war of independence in 1971, prosecutors said on Thursday.

A special court said the fugitives were found guilty of serial abuses during the war, which saw Bangladesh gain independence from Pakistan. 

Critics say the so-called International Crimes Tribunal, which has no international oversight, is politically motivated and used to target the opposition.

"They were charged with murder, abduction, looting, arson and rape in Netrokona in 1971," prosecutor M.R. Badol told AFP, referring to a northern district some 170 kilometres (106 miles) from Dhaka.

Prosecutors said the four accused were connected to Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest religious party in Bangladesh and one allied to the country's main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina accuses Jamaat of collaborating with Pakistani forces during the war and has banned it as a political outfit.

Bangladesh says Pakistani troops, aided by local militias, killed three million people and raped 200,000 women during the nine-month war in 1971 that ended after forces from neighbouring India intervened. 

Independent researchers put the figures much lowers, saying between 300,000 to 500,000 people were killed. 

The Jamaat opposed the struggle and sided with the military regime in then West Islamabad. 

The party denies any of its leaders committed any atrocities and says the trials are a sham aimed at eliminating the party, which is a key opposition force.

The war crimes tribunal set up by Premier Sheikh Hasina in 2010 has sparked violence and drawn criticism from opposition politicians, who say it is victimising her political opponents. The government denies the accusations.

The executions and convictions of Jamaat officials plunged Bangladesh into one of its worst crises in 2013 when tens of thousands of party activists and supporters clashed with police in protests that left some 500 people dead.

Hasina, whose father was Bangladesh's first post independence prime minister, created the war crimes tribunal in 2010.

So far, six key opposition leaders have been executed by the tribunal

Human rights groups say the tribunal's procedures fall short of international standards, but the government insists the trials have been fair.

Hasina won a fourth term in office in December in a landslide victory for her ruling Awami League party. 

The poll was marred by widespread allegations of graft, and most of Hasina's opponents were jailed and unable to contest.