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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

Bangladesh executes Muhammad Kamaruzzaman for war crimes

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Muhammad Kamaruzzaman leaves a court escorted by policemen in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in May 2013.
Muhammad Kamaruzzaman leaves a court escorted by
policemen in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in May 2013.
(Reuters) - Bangladesh hanged Islamist opposition leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman on Saturday for war crimes committed during the 1971 war to break away from Pakistan, a move that risks an angry reaction from his supporters who called for a general strike.

Kamaruzzaman, 63, of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was hanged at Dhaka Central Jail after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal against a death sentence imposed by a special tribunal for genocide and torture of civilians during the conflict.

He refused to beg for a pardon from the president.

The acting head of Jamaat-e-Islami, Maqbul Ahmed, said in a statement: "The government, in a very planned way, killed him in political revenge."

The party declared Sunday as a "prayer day" for Kamaruzzaman and peace and called for a general strike on Monday.

The Border Guard Bangladesh paramilitary force has been deployed across the country to stem any sign of protest.

On Saturday, security was beefed up around the prison. All roads leading there were closed and security forces were patrolling in the capital.

Supporters of the sentence were soon out hailing the execution, with the Gana Jagaron Moncha youth movement chanting slogans against those they brand war criminals and demanding they too face death.

Source: Reuters, April 11, 2015

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Location: Bangladesh
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