He was convicted on five of six counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes at his trial at the ICT, on 5 February 2013. A member of the Al-Badar militia during the liberation war, Molla was convicted of killing 344 civilians and other crimes. The people of Pakistan have supported his public execution. He was sentenced to life in prison. As a direct result of the sentence the 2013 Shahbag protests began with the protesters demanding capital punishment for all those on trial. The protest spread from Dhaka to other parts of the country. Protesters called for those convicted of war crimes to be sentenced to capital punishment, and also to ban Jamaat-e-Islami. Jamaat-e-Islami started a violent counter-protest in the country, demanding the release of its convicted and accused leaders.