NEWS AUTOPSY
Immanuel Paul
While
Most of the Bangladeshi
media headlined the execution of
Abdul Quader Mollah, international
news outlets have used a selective,
biased and misleading approach to
describe the execution of Abdul
Quader Mollah, a convicted war
criminal who was hanged this month
for crimes against humanity,
genocide and rape committed during
the full bench of the Appellate
Division of the Supreme Court heard
and eventually rejected his petition
for leniency. Mr. Molla was found
guilty, among other things, of killing
344 people in Alubdi village in
Mirpur, a suburb of the Bangladesh
capital of Dhaka and of the rape of an
11-year-old girl. He was widely
known as the Butcher of Mirpur
because he led the infamous Al-Badr
Mr. Molla's execution was carried out on December 12 after he
exhausted all appeals and only after the full bench of the Appellate
Division of the Supreme Court heard and eventually rejected his
petition for leniency.
Some prominent headlines identified
Mr. Mollah as an "Islamist leader" or
an "opposition leader." While it is
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Mr. Molla's execution was carried
out on December 12 after he
exhausted all appeals and only after
militia in slaughtering a large number
of people, including women and
children.
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Bangladesh's War of Liberation in
1971. News of supporters rejoicing
upon hearing the verdict was mostly
downplayed.