Bangladesh hanged Islamist opposition leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman on Saturday for war crimes committed during the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan, a move met with an angry reaction from his supporters who called for a protest 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 war.

He refused to beg for a pardon from the president. The head of the jail confirmed that the execution took place at 10:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. EDT).

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.

His followers term this execution as political victimization for Jamaat-e-Islami’s stand to side with Pakistan in 1971. “Jamaat is being targeted for because the party thought the Union must not break during 1971 uprising”, said a follower of the party.

International human rights groups say the tribunal’s procedures fall short of international standards, an accusation the government denies.

In a statement the U.S. State Department said further improvements needed to be made in the judicial process in Bangladesh and until then “it is best not to proceed with executions given the irreversibility of a sentence of death.”

The European Union, United Nations and human rights groups last week urged Bangladesh not to impose the death penalty.

Senior Jamaat-e-Islami official Abdul Quader Molla was hanged for war crimes in December 2013 after the Supreme Court overturned a life sentence imposed by the tribunal.

Eight others have been sentenced to death for their actions in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.

reuters