Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, 65, secretary general of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, exits a court after the verdict of his trial, in front of the International Crimes Tribunal-2 in Dhaka.

Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, 65, secretary general of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, exits a court after the verdict of his trial, in front of the International Crimes Tribunal-2 in Dhaka. Photo: Reuters

Another Bangladeshi Islamist leader has been sentenced to hang for war crimes, sparking further unrest in an already tense capital, Dhaka.

Ali Ahsan Mojaheed, secretary-general of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was found guilty Wednesday of kidnapping, torturing and murdering opponents during Bangladesh's bloody war of independence against Pakistan in 1971.

The prosecution of Jamaat leaders now, with an election due within six months, smacks of opportunism. 

Mojaheed was commander of the notorious Al-Badr forces, a shadowy militia formed to collaborate with the Pakistan Army in fighting against secessionists trying to win Bangladesh (then known as East Pakistan) its independence.

Members of Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad, a welfare association for combatants who fought during the war for independence from Pakistan in 1971, shout slogans after a war crimes tribunal sentenced Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, 65, secretary general of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, to death in Dhaka.

Members of a welfare association for combatants who fought during the war for independence from Pakistan in 1971, shout slogans after a war crimes tribunal sentenced Ali Ahsan Mojaheed to death. Photo: Reuters

Al-Badr kidnapped, tortured and killed journalists, writers and intellectuals who supported Bengali independence.

The bloody nine-month war, which ended in defeat for Pakistan and the establishment of the state of Bangladesh, killed an estimated three million people and displaced 30 million more.

The court's 209-page verdict found Mojaheed guilty of "guilty of extermination of intellectuals" and of co-ordinating a brutal pogrom against Bangladesh's minority Hindu community.

Mojaheed's counsel, Saifur Rahman, said the verdict was "not a proper judgment, we will surely… appeal against this".

On the back of the verdict, Dhaka was shut down for a third straight day Wednesday, as Jamaat supporters enforced a countrywide 'hartal' or strike.

Buildings were attacked and vehicles torched by rioters. At least five people have been killed already this week in violent clashes between pro- and anti-government supporters. The city remains locked down Wednesday night and a strike called for Thursday.

Shops and businesses remained shuttered, while Jamaat's student wing let off homemade bombs across the city. Few private cars were on the streets, for fear of being vandalised.

Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal, established to try atrocities committed during the war of independence, was established in 2010 backed by broad public support.

But since, it has become mired in the violent and vengeful world of Bangladeshi politics.

Critics say the tribunal is a political tool of the ruling Awami League, which uses the court to pursue its political opponents.

The Awami League argues members of Jamaat-e-Islami were avowed collaborators with Pakistan and the cases in court have proven they committed atrocities.

But international observers say those accused have not been given a fair trial. Judges have been pressured into verdicts and witnesses abducted, while defendants have been denied time to prepare cases, or refused the right to call witnesses.

Domestic political analysts say the prosecution of Jamaat leaders now, with an election due within six months, smacks of opportunism.

The tribunal has now sentenced six former "collaborators", four of them to death.

This week, it sentenced 91-year-old Ghulam Azam to 90 years in prison, his sentence mitigated because of his age and ill-health.

Since January, when the international war crimes tribunal began handing down its sentences, more than 100 people have died in street clashes in Dhaka.