Jim Fitzpatrick MP spoke at a Bangladeshi protest outside parliament held by East End residents over the conviction of a prominent London Muslim for war crimes.

East London Advertiser: Bangladeshis from the East End protest opposite Big Ben in Parliament Square, WestminsterBangladeshis from the East End protest opposite Big Ben in Parliament Square, Westminster (Image: Archant)

The protesters gathered opposite Big Ben in Westminster on November 27 to call for Chowdhury Mueen Uddin, a former vice-chair of the East London Mosque in Whitechapel, to be extradited to Bangladesh for war crimes allegedly committed during the country’s liberation war.

Mr Fitzpatrick said he was there to oppose attacks by Islamists on minorities in Bangladesh, including Hindus and Christians, to support the war crimes process and to call for the upcoming elections there to be “free and fair”.

Speaking to the Advertiser, he said: “My view is quite simple. Bangladesh has been trying to deal with the genocide from 1971 for many years now.

“It should be dealt with in a legal process that’s above challenge, and I think it’s important they get on with doing that.

“Mueen Uddin is part of that, though what part he plays is a complicated matter, and a matter for the judicial authorities.”

He added: “Where I part company with the Bangladeshis is they still have a death penalty in Bangladesh and that is clearly one of the obstacles.”

Ansar Ullah from Whitechapel, one of the organisers, said: “We are campaigning on behalf of the families of the loved ones who were killed, and we think that now Mueen Uddin has been found guilty, he should face justice.”

Mr Mueen Uddin, 65, who has also been Director of Muslim Spiritual Care Provision for the NHS, was convicted earlier this month by a Bangladeshi court for the murder of teachers, journalists and intellectuals after being tried in his absence.

Mr Mueen Uddin denies the charges and his lawyer Toby Cadman has called the court a “show trial”.