Bangladeshi police have shot dead dead three activists who were protesting against two of their leaders' convictions for war crimes, while far larger demonstrations calling for the men to be executed continued for an 11th day.

A tribunal sentenced Abdul Quader Mollah to life in prison on Feb. 5 for war crimes including murder, rape and torture, the second verdict in trials that have reopened wounds of
Bangladesh's 1971 independence conflict.

Most Bangladeshis had expected a death sentence to be handed to Mollah, 64, assistant secretary-general of Jamaat-e-Islami -the country's biggest Islamist party.

Tens of thousands of protesters have rallied every day in more than a dozen cities since the sentencing, demanding the execution of Mollah and others convicted of war crimes.

Al Jazeera's Azhar Sukri reports.