[sillysaurus3]

He was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes by the Bangladeshi International Crimes Tribunal. But many Bangladeshis found that sentence too lenient, and more than 100,000 of them gathered in Shahbag Square in the capital city of Dhaka to challenge it.

It's interesting that so many people gathered solely to express "we want this guy dead, not imprisoned." I wonder if there's more context?

[kchoudhu]

There is.

Given the dynamics of Bangladeshi politics, a life sentence from the current government is actually a jailing until the opposition comes to power and pardons everyone convicted by its predecessor.

I'm against capital punishment, but I understand where the protesters are coming from: they want real justice for the atrocities in 1971, and see the death penalty as the only way to obtain lasting closure.

Politics in a democracy of 180MM people is really, really messy.

[seabee]

It seems messier than politics in a democracy of 300MM people or 70MM...

[kchoudhu]

You refer (I assume) to the UK and the US? One invented modern parliamentary democracy, and the other is a global superpower. Both have been at the business of democracy for 200+ years, and have never had to deal with the problem set Bangladesh is facing today.

Snark serves no one well.

[6cxs2hd6]

>>> Politics in a democracy of 180MM people is really, really messy.

>> It seems messier than politics in a democracy of 300MM people or 70MM...

> Snark serves no one well.

FWIW I didn't see it as snark. You seemed to imply the size of the democracy mattered. His/her response was a couple counter-factuals. Then you seemed to acknowledge it's not the size, it's the age of the democracy (which is a great point).

In any case I found the rest of your original post really helpful context, explaining why a "life" sentence probably won't turn out to be that. Thanks!

[jordan0day]

"...a Bangladeshi nationalist movement called Gonojagoron Moncho, or National Awakening Stage. Gonojagoron Moncho was founded in response to the trial of Abdul Quader Molla, a Bangladeshi Islamist leader who last year was found guilty of killing hundreds of civilians as part of a paramilitary wing during Bangladesh’s liberation war from Pakistan in 1971. "

That, uh, seems like plenty of context to me? Throughout history, seriously bad dude plus nationalistic fervor equals lynch mob pretty darn often. The seriously bad dude part is usually even optional!

[Gracana]

The next paragraph goes on to say that as a result of the protests, his political party was banned from participating in future elections. I'm sure they wanted him dead as well (and they did get that wish), but the banning of his political party is huge.

[tomasien]

That's really, really sad if it's true.