BRUSSELS
The European Union has condemned the recent execution of a senior Bangladeshi politician.
When asked about the execution of Mohammad Kamaruzzaman, Jamaat-e-Islami party’s senior leader, European Commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic told reporters in Brussels Monday: "(EU) continues to call all the countries that still use the death penalty to follow first the moratorium of full abolition of this punishment. In this respect we are, of course, condemning the use of this practice."
Kamaruzzaman, the Assistant General Secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami, was executed Saturday after choosing not to seek a presidential pardon.
The Jamaat leader was sentenced to death in May 2013 by the International Crimes Tribunal, a domestic court formed to investigate 1971 war crimes, and had an appeal rejected by the Supreme Court in November.
His execution sparked criticism from the international community, including Amnesty International and the United Nations.
Amnesty International's Bangladesh expert Abbas Faiz said: "We are concerned that Bangladesh continues to use the death penalty, including for those found guilty of war crimes in Bangladesh.
"We believe that it undermines human dignity and there is no evidence that it works as a deterrent, which is why we are calling for a global abolition."
Kamaruzzaman was the second person executed for war crimes after another leading Jamaat-e-Islami figure, Abdul Quader Molla, was hanged in December 2013.
The party's leader Motiur Rahman Nizami was also sentenced to death in November, as was another leading senior official, Mir Quasem Ali.
"The European Union calls on Bangladeshi authorities to commute all death sentences and to introduce a moratorium on executions as a first step towards definitive abolition of capital punishment," the 28-nation bloc had said in a statement on April 9.
