DHAKA: Bangladeshi war criminal Ghulam Azam, who was sentenced last year to 90 years in prison for masterminding atrocities during the country's 1971 independence war, died late Thursday aged 91.
Azam was the wartime head of Jamaat-e-Islami. He died of a heart attack while in custody at a hospital in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, director of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University hospital Abdul Majid Bhuiyan told reporters. "He died of cardiac arrest at 10.10 pm today," the director said. Azam's son, Abdullahel Azmi, told AFP earlier on Th."He was suffering from old age complications. He also did not get adequate care in the hospital," his lawyer, Tajul Islam, said.–AFP
Azam was found guilty of five charges of war crimes, including crimes against humanity, last July by a special war court crimes court set by the country's secular government.