Protests in Bangladesh sparks a new law

Thanks to recent protests, the Bangladesh government has agreed to amend a law that will allow an appeal to be granted concerning the life sentence of a war criminal.

According to the BBC,  the country’s parliament has agreed to let prosecutors appeal against the life sentence given to Abdul Kader Mullah, a Jamaat chief who is accused of crimes against humanity during Bangladesh’s war of independence with Pakistan in 1971.

When Mullah was given a life sentence, demonstrators took to the streets for two weeks in protest of the ruling.

Protestors were asking that the death penalty be given to Mullah, and reportedly cheered in the country’s capital of Dhaka on Sunday when the government’s decision was announced.

The amendment not only allows for appeals to be made against verdicts at the International Crimes Tribunal, but also enables a special tribunal to prosecute political parties or groups allegedly involved in war crimes.

Flickr Photo by: lordamit

STORY WRITTEN BY: NIKITA SMITH