Bangladesh: War Tribunal Issues a Death Sentence A special tribunal on Monday sentenced a man to death for his role in mass killings during Bangladesh's 1971 independence war. The defendant, Mobarak Hossain, a former commander of a group that collaborated with the Pakistani Army, was convicted of killing 33 civilians in eastern Bangladesh. He was also separately given a life sentence for abducting and killing a man. In 1971, Mr. Hossain was a member of an Islamist party that campaigned against the creation of Bangladesh, then part of Pakistan. He later joined the party of the current prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, but he was expelled in 2011. Bangladesh blames Pakistani soldiers and local collaborators for the deaths of three million people during the 1971 war. Mrs. Hasina set up the tribunals in 2010, reviving a process that had stalled for many years.