 More than 1,000 people gathered here on 5 February 2013, growing to 20,000 people by 9 February, following the conviction of Abdul Quader Mollah for war crimes by the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal, and his sentence to life imprisonment.Protesters thought he should have received the death sentence for his crimes, as had two other political leaders who were convicted.The protest movement gathered force, as leaders also called for the banning of Jamaat-e-Islami from politics, as two of its top leaders had been convicted of war crimes and followers had conducted violent protests and riots.