Staff Reporter :
Former commander of Al-Badr in greater Rangpur region and incumbent assistant secretary general of Jamaat-e Islami ATM Azharul Islam has been awarded death penalty for conducting genocide during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.
Out of six charges, the three-member International Crimes Tribunal [ICT] -1, chaired by Justice
M Enayetur Rahim, found Azhar guilty of five charges, on Tuesday. He, however, was acquitted in one charge.
Azhar, 62, is the eighth senior Jamaat leader who has been convicted of war crimes committed in 1971. He was arrested on August 22, 2012 and indicted on Nov 12, 2013. The hearing in his case was wrapped up on September 18, 2014.
Presiding Judge Enayetur Rahim, while reading out the summary of the 158-page verdict, said that Azhar never repented for his wartime offences.
In its observation, the Court further said that a section of media both local and international tried to show Azhar as a religious figure, although he has been facing trial as a war criminal.
“Here, we are trying him [Azhar] as a suspected war criminal. His position as an Islamic or religious figure is not our concern. So, such presentation in the media is not correct. The tribunal thinks that capital punishment is appropriate for Azhar,” Justice Rahim mentioned.
In another observation, the tribunal said it is nation’s moral obligation to pay due respect to the ‘Biranganas’, the war heroines who were violated by the Pakistani army and their local collaborators.
The tribunal also agreed that the rape victims [during Liberation War] should be adequately compensated. But the matter was not within the purview of ICT as set out by the law. The Court, in this backdrop, asked the concerned authorities for inclusion of biographies of the ‘Biranganas’ in school textbooks so that the future generations could know their sacrifices and their contribution could recount from one generation to the other. Meanwhile, the Tribunal Chairman, before reading out the verdict, said that announcing a violent programme [calling hartal] as a reaction to the verdict was not expected. “One should not do something that creates mental pressure on the judges,” he said.
“Violence will not change the judgement. The defence should have to go to the Supreme Court for that,” the Judge noted. After the pronouncement of verdict, the Jamaat leader at one stage stood up on the dock and started shouting saying that it was a dictated [formayeshi] verdict. “All of you will be brought to justice in future,” he said indicating the panel judges.
Charge-1: Azhar along with his accomplices abducted National Awami Party leader AY Mahfuz Ali Zorres Mia and 10 others within March 24 to March 27 in 1971. The abductees were taken to Rangpur Cant. and tortured severely. Of them, ten were shot dead at Dokhiganj crematorium on April 3. The ICT found Azhar not guilty in the case.
Charge-2: Azhar along with several other Jamaat and ICS activists and Pakistani Army men went to Takerhat Relgumti under Badarganj in Rangpur on April 16. On their way to Dhapparha, they looted and torched many houses. At Dhapparha, they shot dead 14 unarmed civilians. The ICT found him guilty and sentenced him to death.
Charge-3: Azhar along with Pakistani troops swooped on several villages near Jharuarbeel on April 17 killing over 1200 Hindu villagers. They also detained another 200 people, looted and torched houses, and murdered them. The Court found him guilty and sentenced him to death.
Charge -4: Azhar along with Al-Badr men abducted four professors of Carmichael College and wife of another from its campus on April 30 and shot them dead near Damdam Bridge. The ICT found him guilty and sentenced him to death.
Charge -5: Azhar helped Pakistani military to detain, violate and physically torture scores of women at Rangpur cantonment. The ICT found him guilty and sentenced him 25 years imprisonment.
Former commander of Al-Badr in greater Rangpur region and incumbent assistant secretary general of Jamaat-e Islami ATM Azharul Islam has been awarded death penalty for conducting genocide during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.
Out of six charges, the three-member International Crimes Tribunal [ICT] -1, chaired by Justice
M Enayetur Rahim, found Azhar guilty of five charges, on Tuesday. He, however, was acquitted in one charge.
Azhar, 62, is the eighth senior Jamaat leader who has been convicted of war crimes committed in 1971. He was arrested on August 22, 2012 and indicted on Nov 12, 2013. The hearing in his case was wrapped up on September 18, 2014.
Presiding Judge Enayetur Rahim, while reading out the summary of the 158-page verdict, said that Azhar never repented for his wartime offences.
In its observation, the Court further said that a section of media both local and international tried to show Azhar as a religious figure, although he has been facing trial as a war criminal.
“Here, we are trying him [Azhar] as a suspected war criminal. His position as an Islamic or religious figure is not our concern. So, such presentation in the media is not correct. The tribunal thinks that capital punishment is appropriate for Azhar,” Justice Rahim mentioned.
In another observation, the tribunal said it is nation’s moral obligation to pay due respect to the ‘Biranganas’, the war heroines who were violated by the Pakistani army and their local collaborators.
The tribunal also agreed that the rape victims [during Liberation War] should be adequately compensated. But the matter was not within the purview of ICT as set out by the law. The Court, in this backdrop, asked the concerned authorities for inclusion of biographies of the ‘Biranganas’ in school textbooks so that the future generations could know their sacrifices and their contribution could recount from one generation to the other. Meanwhile, the Tribunal Chairman, before reading out the verdict, said that announcing a violent programme [calling hartal] as a reaction to the verdict was not expected. “One should not do something that creates mental pressure on the judges,” he said.
“Violence will not change the judgement. The defence should have to go to the Supreme Court for that,” the Judge noted. After the pronouncement of verdict, the Jamaat leader at one stage stood up on the dock and started shouting saying that it was a dictated [formayeshi] verdict. “All of you will be brought to justice in future,” he said indicating the panel judges.
Charge-1: Azhar along with his accomplices abducted National Awami Party leader AY Mahfuz Ali Zorres Mia and 10 others within March 24 to March 27 in 1971. The abductees were taken to Rangpur Cant. and tortured severely. Of them, ten were shot dead at Dokhiganj crematorium on April 3. The ICT found Azhar not guilty in the case.
Charge-2: Azhar along with several other Jamaat and ICS activists and Pakistani Army men went to Takerhat Relgumti under Badarganj in Rangpur on April 16. On their way to Dhapparha, they looted and torched many houses. At Dhapparha, they shot dead 14 unarmed civilians. The ICT found him guilty and sentenced him to death.
Charge-3: Azhar along with Pakistani troops swooped on several villages near Jharuarbeel on April 17 killing over 1200 Hindu villagers. They also detained another 200 people, looted and torched houses, and murdered them. The Court found him guilty and sentenced him to death.
Charge -4: Azhar along with Al-Badr men abducted four professors of Carmichael College and wife of another from its campus on April 30 and shot them dead near Damdam Bridge. The ICT found him guilty and sentenced him to death.
Charge -5: Azhar helped Pakistani military to detain, violate and physically torture scores of women at Rangpur cantonment. The ICT found him guilty and sentenced him 25 years imprisonment.
