War criminal Delwar Hossain Sayeedi dies
Convicted war criminal Delwar Hossain Sayeedi passed away at 8:40pm today (14 August), doctors at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) have confirmed.
The Jamaat-e-Islami leader was under treatment at the hospital due to suffering from a cardiac arrest.
Sayeedi, who was jailed unto death at the Kashimpur Central Jail, complained of chest pain at around 2:00pm on Sunday.
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Doctors at the Kashimpur jail took him to the Shahabuddin Medical College in Dhaka.
Later, the hospital authorities referred him to the BSMMU for treatment.
Meanwhile, people crowded in front of the main gate of the BSMMU, with some even breaking into the hospital grounds as news of Sayeedi's death spread, our correspondent reported from the spot at around 9:30pm.
Many are chanting slogans against the regime and police, the correspondent added.
Police in different districts have been asked to remain alert, according to sources at the Police Headquarters.
Sayeedi – former member of parliament for Pirojpur-1 Barisal constituency in 1996 till 2006 – was arrested in 2010 after being accused of hurting religious sentiments. On 2 August of the same year, he was arrested over allegations of crimes against humanity.
He was subsequently charged and sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh on 28 February 2013, after he was found guilty of eight out of twenty alleged charges regarding the Liberation War.
His crimes included passing secret information to the Pakistani Army, rape, arson and loot.
'Face on the moon' and the violence that followed
Following the verdict, Jamaat immediately called a strike that soon turned violent and claimed the lives of nearly 70 people.
Just days after the clash began, Basherkellaa, a Facebook page operated by Jamaat-Shibir, published a superimposed photo of Sayeedi on the moon that resulted in a second wave of violence.
For many, this was an omen to free Sayeedi at any cost.
Posted from an account named Carbon Tasnimâ of Faridpur, the photo was widely circulated by Jamaat activists through cell phones and computers.
"From late Friday (1 March 2013) night to early Saturday (2 March 2013), people from Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia saw Sayeedi's face (on the moon). Such an image is God's sign that true devotees are honoured in different ways," the caption read.
For those who did not have access to the internet, announcements were made from local mosques through loudspeakers in different parts of the country, according to media reports.
The pro-Jamaat campaigners also pasted Sayeedi's photo on the national flag, propagating through social media that he was not a war criminal.
While Islamic scholars condemned the use of that particular photo, Jamaat-Shibir activists succeeded to garner huge support for Sayeedi's release. Another round of violence gripped the country.
In September 2014, the Supreme Court commuted his sentence to life imprisonment.
But later on 17 February 2018, he was again sentenced to death for his crimes against humanity during the Liberation War by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
