Bangladesh's parliament has amended a law allowing the state to appeal against the life sentence given to an opposition leader for his role in mass killings and rape during the 1971 war for independence.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators in central Shahbag Square cheered as the assembly approved the changes on Sunday.
Protesters have gathered in central Dhaka for the past 13 days demanding the death penalty for Abdul Quader Mollah, an assistant secretary general of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, for war crimes. The prominent Islamist was given a life sentence by a tribunal last month, stunning many Bangladeshis.
The amendment will "empower the tribunals to try to punish any organisations, including Jamaat-e-Islami, for committing crimes during the country's liberation war in 1971", the law minister, Shafique Ahmed, said
The government is facing growing pressure to ban Jamaat-e-Islami and groups linked to it. Ahmed told reporters the government was considering such a ban.
Lawyers said Sunday's amendment sets a timetable for the government to appeal against Mollah's sentence and secure a retrial. The previous law did not allow state prosecutors to call for a retrial except in the case of acquittals.
Source: The Guardian, Feb. 17, 2013