The tribunal's head judge, Obaidul Hassan, issued the order against Forkan Mollick, saying he committed the crimes in southern Patuakhali district.
The man worked at a local office of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, Bangladesh's largest Islamist party, which had organized people to fight against the independence struggle.
He was a low-ranking activist of another party, the Muslim League, in 1971.
After Thursday's verdict, Mollick shouted from inside a prison van that he was innocent as police took him away.
"I am innocent, I was their employee, that's why I have been punished," he said, referring to Jamaat-e-Islami.
Bangladesh says Pakistani soldiers, aided by local collaborators, killed 3 million people and raped 200,000 women during the war in East Pakistan, which is now Bangladesh.
The defense plans to appeal the verdict, which is part of a series of decisions by two separate tribunals set up by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2010.
More than 15 people, mostly leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami party, have been convicted of war crimes.
The party has rejected the verdicts, saying it is politically motivated, but authorities have denied that allegation.