The Shahbag protests were widespread demonstrations held in Bangladesh in 2013. On 5 February 2013, protests ignited in Shahbagh, Bangladesh, fuelled by the call for the execution of the convicted war criminal Abdul Quader Mollah. Previously sentenced to life imprisonment, Mollah was convicted on five of six counts of war crimes by the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh. Mollah supported West Pakistan during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and played a crucial role in the murder of numerous Bengali nationalists and intellectuals. The demonstrations also sought the government's ban on Jamaat-e-Islami, from participating in politics, including elections, and a boycott of institutions supporting or affiliated with the group.