Bangladesh’s war crimes court sentenced a leading Islamist to death yesterday for rape, mass murder and genocide during the country’s 1971 war.

Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary-general ATM Azharul Islam became the 16th person and the 11th Islamist to be convicted of atrocities by the International Crimes Tribunal.

The tribunal found the 62-year-old guilty of being a member of a notorious pro-Pakistan militia.