Baghdad (CNN) -- Iraq's Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, who fled the country months ago, was sentenced to death Sunday, an official said. The verdict came on a day when a wave of violence across Iraq left at least 79 people dead and 270 wounded. Together, the death sentence and the violence raise questions about the stability of the country just nine months after U.S. troops were withdrawn. Al-Hashimi was sentenced to hang "because he was involved directly in killing a female lawyer and a general with the Iraqi army," said Abdul Sattar al-Berqdar, a spokesman for Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council.
@highlight
NEW: More than 79 people were killed in violence across Iraq
@highlight
Iraq's top Sunni politician is convicted over the killing of two people
@highlight
He's accused of other crimes, including running a death squad
@highlight
He says the charges are politically motivated
"Everybody knows that my case is a political case, from beginning to end, and that the charges against me are fabricated and far from the truth," @placeholder said in May.