UN rights chief calls for stay on Molla execution

According to a UN news release, the UN rights chief Navi Pillay on Tuesday called for “an eleventh-hour stay” of Molla’s execution.

She said Molla was convicted of war crimes “in a trial that did not meet international standards for imposition of the death penalty”.

Molla was set to be executed at 12:01am on Wednesday, but the last-minute halt order came when his lawyers moved the Supreme Court Chamber Judge, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain.

The execution has been suspended until 10:30am Wednesday.

The development came amid the visit of UN Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco.

He is making a last-ditch effort to broker peace as the Awami League and BNP are feuding over the form of the government which will oversee the 10th parliamentary election.

The latest UN call for postponing the Molla execution came a day after two independent United Nations human rights experts had urged Bangladesh government to halt the execution.

Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Gabriela Knaul and Special Rapporteur on summary executions Christof Heyns had said that that the Jamaat leader was not granted a fair trial.

Molla was condemned to life imprisonment by the International Crimes Tribunal-2, a special court with the jurisdiction and competence to try and punish any person accused of committing atrocities, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during the War of Independence.

After the prosecution appealed the tribunal’s decision to sentence him to life imprisonment, the Supreme Court's Appellate Division sentenced Molla to death on Sept 17– a ruling that cannot be appealed.

But the execution, which was due at 12:01am Wednesday, was halted by the Supreme Court Chamber Judge around 10:30pm Tuesday.

“The United Nations opposes the imposition of the death penalty under any circumstance, even for the most serious international crimes,” stated the news release from UN rights chief Navi Pillay’s office on Tuesday.

In a statement last month, the High Commissioner had urged the Bangladesh government not to proceed with the death penalty in cases before the International Crimes Tribunal, particularly given concerns about the fairness of the trials.