The International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Sunday sentenced Jamaat-e-Islami policymaker Mir Quasem Ali to death for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971. A three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Obaidul Hassan, pronounced the judgment containing 351 pages at 11:30 am in presence of the accused in the dock amid tight security in and around the court. Police earlier brought Quasem Ali to the tribunal amid heavy security. Earlier, on Friday, the Jamaat leader was brought to Dhaka Central Jail from Kashimpur Jail in Gazipur for the delivery of the judgment. After six months of closing the trial, the ICT-2 on Thursday set Sunday to pronounce its judgment on war crimes accused Mir Quasem Ali. On May 4, the tribunal kept pending the verdict to be delivered any day after formally closing law-point arguments from both sides in the trial. On May 26, 2013, the tribunal took cognizance of the charges made against Quasem Ali, also chairman of private television channel Diganta (operation now suspended) as it found a strong prima facie case against the accused under subsections 3(2), 4(1) and 4(2) of the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973. The tribunal on September 5, 2013 indicted Mir Quasem for his involvement in crimes against humanity during the Liberation War. Quasem Ali faced 12 out of 14 counts of charges of crimes against humanity during the war. The prosecution could not place evidence on two charges due to failure of bringing its witnesses before the tribunal. According to the prosecution, Quasem Ali, also a 1971 front-ranking leader of Islami Chhatra Sangha (ICS), student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, had perpetrated various crimes against humanity like killing, looting, abduction, persecution, genocide, rape, extortion, and setting fire to the houses of unarmed civilians during the Liberation War in collaboration with Pakistani occupation army. Accused Mir Quasem had also set up makeshift torture camps at different places in the port city of Chittagong, including Dalim Hotel, where freedom-loving people were handed down punishment in 1971. Plainclothes police in compliance with the tribunal’s order arrested the Jamaat leader from the office of the vernacular daily Nayadiganta in the capital on June 17 last year.
