DHAKA, Bangladesh — An opposition leader convicted of war crimes during Bangladesh's war of independence in 1971 was executed Thursday, a move that raised fears of new violence before next month's elections.
Abdul Quader Mollah was hanged at 10:01 p.m., said Sheikh Yousuf Harun, chief government administrator in Dhaka, hours after the Supreme Court rejected a last-minute appeal.
Mollah's Islamic party, Jamaat-e-Islami, immediately called a nationwide general strike for Sunday.
Hundreds of people gathered at a major intersection in Dhaka to celebrate the execution, saying it delivered justice for crimes committed four decades ago.
Mollah, 65, is the first person executed after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2010 began trials for those suspected of crimes during the country's nine-month fight for independence from Pakistan in 1971.
Most of the defendants are opposition members.