Verdict on Bangladesh war crimes accused Azhar Tuesday

Dhaka, Dec 29 (IANS) Bangladesh’s first war crimes tribunal is expected to deliver its verdict on Jamaat-e-Islami leader A.T.M. Azharul Islam Tuesday, media reported.

The Jamaat leader, indicted Nov 12 last year, stands accused of murder, genocide, abduction, torture and rape in Rangpur during Bangladesh’s 1971 War of Liberation against Pakistan, bdnews24.com reported.
Hearing in the case involving Jamaat assistant secretary general Azharul Islam was completed Sep 18 and the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1, headed by Justice Enayetur Rahim, fixed the date for verdict Monday.
The ICT is a specially constituted domestic court set up by the Sheikh Hasina government in 2010, to prosecute those who had committed war crimes during Bangladesh’s Liberation War in 1971.
According to the prosecution, charges brought against Azharul Islam include murder of 1,225 people in Rangpur, abduction of 17 people, torture of 13 people, and arson.
He had also allegedly led the Al-Badr militia to assist the Pakistani Army in oppression against the people of what then was East Pakistan.
Azharul Islam, who was a student at Rangpur’s Carmichael College in 1971, was also the chief of the Islami Chhatra Shangha, the then student front of the Jamaat.
He was arrested from his Moghbazar residence Aug 22, 2012, and has been in jail since then.
–Indo-Asian Neews Service
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