Release of top leaders Jamaat\\\'s countrywide protest today

The Jamaat-e-Islami has announced a countrywide protest for Sunday demanding release of its top leaders convicted or under trial on war crimes charges, reports bdnews24.com.

The party's acting secretary general Shafiqur Rahman, in a statement Saturday, alleged that the government was "conspiring to eliminate" its top brass.

He urged the party activists to 'peacefully' observe today's (Sunday's) protest.

Many of the war crime convicts and those standing trial are current or former leaders of Jamaat, a party which openly opposed Bangladesh's independence.

Suspected war criminals were put on trial after the previous Awami League-led government set up a special tribunal in 2010. A second tribunal was set up later to expedite the trials.

Jamaat claims the tribunals "fall short of international standard". It accuses the government of carrying out a political vendetta, an allegation the ruling party rejects.

Rahman claimed the government was "desperate to execute" Jamaat's Senior Assistant Secretary General Mohammad Kamaruzzaman, sentenced to death for war crimes last year.