Dhaka - Two men were sentenced to death in Bangladesh on Tuesday for crimes committed during the country’s 1971 war of independence with Pakistan, officials said.
Obaidul Haque Taher, 66, and Ataur Rahman Noni, 62, were to be be hanged for their involvement in the killing of seven people in Netrakona district in north-eastern Bangladesh during the nine-month war.
Four of the six counts of crimes against humanity were proved beyond reasonable doubt, prosecution lawyer Mokhlesur Rahman Badal told the special court, set up in 2010 to try crimes from the conflict.
Defence lawyer Gazi HM Tanim said his clients will appeal.
Investigators said Taher and Nani were members of the Rajakar force, a wartime auxiliary group formed by the Pakistani military, and that they helped the occupation army carry out attacks on unarmed civilians in Netrakona.
The two were also directly involved in killings and torture, said Abdul Hannan Khan, chief of the war crimes investigation agency.
Dhaka estimates that 3 million people were killed in the war, which led to the founding of Bangladesh.
Other estimates have put the figure much lower.
DPA