Mir Quasem Ali

Quasem Ali
মীর কাসেম আলী
Born(1952-12-31)31 December 1952
Died3 September 2016(2016-09-03) (aged 63)
Cause of deathExecution by hanging
CitizenshipPakistani (1952-1971)
Bangladeshi (1971-2016)
Occupations
  • Politician
  • businessman
Political partyBangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami
ChildrenMir Ahmad Bin Quasem
ConvictionCrimes against humanity
Criminal penaltyDeath by hanging

Mir Quasem Ali (Bengali: মীর কাসেম আলী, romanizedMeer Kasem Ali; 31 December 1952 – 3 September 2016) was a Bangladeshi politician of the far-right Jamaat-e-Islami party. He was a former director of Islami Bank and chairman of the Diganta Media Corporation, which owns Diganta TV. He founded the Ibn Sina Trust and was a key figure in the establishment of the NGO Rabita al-Alam al-Islami. He was sentenced to death on 2 November 2014 for crimes against humanity committed during the Independence War of Bangladesh in 1971 by International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh.

The charges were denied by his relatives, stating that they were politically motivated. Human Rights groups also raised concerns about these cases, with Amnesty International criticising the use of the death penalty and saying Mir Quasem Ali's trial had been unfair. He was hanged at Gazipur on 3 September 2016 after his final appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.