British MP Lambert accepts Bangladesh criticism for her call to spare 1971 war criminal Mujahid’s life

Member of European Parliament Jean Lambert says her letter urging the government to review the death sentence of war criminal Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid should not be seen as “a partisan move on behalf of any particular party”.

“I’ll be hated to be saying that…,” the chair the European Parliament Delegation to South Asia said at a press beefing on Friday when she was asked why she had made the appeal to spare the Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general’s life.

Mujahid was hanged in November last year along with BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury for the horrific crimes against humanity they had committed in 1971 to thwart the independence of Bangladesh.

Just before the verdict of their final review in October, Lambert had written in her “personal capacity” to the Bangladesh government through the ambassador in Brussels. In the letter, she had called for a review of Mujahid’s death sentence.

The EU, as a matter of policy, does not support death sentence to any person in any part of the world.

But the British MP Lambert had made the request to the Hasina government specifically in Mujahid’s case. bdnews24.com had seen the letter and run a story.

“You’re right in saying that it was a specific case. I think you are also right in implied criticism that why I did not mention others,” she said.

“It was a case where I was asked to intervene. You are absolutely right, I should raise other issues of death penalty.”

But the member of European Parliament (MEP) added: “I don’t want to be misinterpreted that this was support of any particular individual in terms of who they are. It’s a question about raising opposition to death penalty.”