Bangladesh executed the leader of the Islamist opposition Muhammad Kamaruzzaman in Dhaka on Saturday, after finding him guilty on charges on war crimes and genocide.
Mr Kamaruzzaman, the 63 year old assistant secretary general of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party, lost his final appeal against the sentence, which was handed down last year for crimes committed during the Bangladeshi 1971 war of independence, earlier this month.
The country is now bracing for a wave of protests by supporters of Mr Kamaruzzaman, the second man to be executed as part of the Bangladeshi government war crime trials.
However concern has been raised regarding the standard of the trials being conducted, with a UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights official saying, “given serious concerns about the fairness of trials conducted before the tribunal, the government of Bangladesh should not implement death penalty sentences.”
Speaking before the execution, US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement,
"We have seen progress, but still believe that further improvements ... could ensure these proceedings meet domestic and international obligations."
"Until these obligations can be consistently met, it is best not to proceed with executions given the irreversibility of a sentence of death."