Bangladesh: Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam acquitted in Liberation war crimes case
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Dhaka: Overturning the death sentence given by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) of Bangladesh to Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam, the Supreme Court on Tuesday acquitted the conviction of the radical Islamist leader.
ATM Azharul Islam was slapped with the charges of crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War of the country in 1971.
The charge sheet stated that the Islamist party leader was responsible for killing 1,256 people, abducting 17, and raping 13 women during the Liberation War in Rangpur region, local media reported.
The apex court also directed the jail authorities to release Azharul from jail immediately if no cases were pending against him, according to local media reports.
Despite Azharul being found guilty of several charges in the past, a full bench of seven justices of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, passed the judgment following the hearing of the leader's appeal.
In August 2012, he was arrested at his residence in Dhaka's Moghbazar on charges of crimes against humanity and remained in custody.
In December 2014, the ICT sentenced him to death on five out of the nine charges.
Azharul was found guilty of orchestrating mass killings, abduction, and torture in the greater Rangpur area, where over a thousand people were massacred in 1971.
Reports suggest that the leader of the Islamist party tortured people, set ablaze hundreds of houses, and committed other atrocities during the Bangladesh liberation war.
Challenging the verdict, Azharul filed an appeal in January 2015. However, the Appellate Division, under a bench led by then-Chief Justice Syed Mahmud, upheld the death sentence in October 2019.
After the full verdict was published on March 15, 2020, he submitted a review petition, which the Supreme Court accepted.
The Appellate Division, after hearing the review petition, granted leave to appeal on February 26, 2025 and directed the submission of the case summary which was subsequently submitted.
After hearing the appeal, the court delivered its final judgment on Tuesday, acquitting Azharul, a Bangladeshi leading daily, Prothom Alo, reported.
Last year, the interim government under Muhammad Yunus, after coming to power, lifted the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, through a gazette notification.
These forces earlier worked hand in glove with the student leaders and Yunus to overthrow the democratically elected government of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
IANS
