Bangladesh SC acquits Jamaat leader on death row for 1971 war crimes
'The full seven-member bench chaired by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, delivered the verdict, ordering acquittal of Mr ATM Azharul Islam,' a state counsel said.
ATM Azharul Islam was acquitted by the Appellate Division of the apex court.
Dhaka, May 27 (PTI) Bangladesh's Supreme Court on Tuesday acquitted a senior Jamaat-e-Islami leader, overturning his death sentence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in a war crimes case related to the 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan.
He said the court also directed the prison authorities to release Islam from jail immediately if he was not arrested in other cases.
There was no higher court in Bangladesh or any international forum to reverse the apex court verdict, the counsel added.
The 73-year-old leader of the Islamic party, which was opposed to Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971, was arrested over charges of committing crimes against humanity during the War.
Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal sentenced him to death for multiple charges, including genocide, murder, and rape.
The Appellate Division upheld the verdict after an appeal hearing on October 23, 2019, prompting Islam to file a petition seeking to review the judgment before the same court on July 19, 2020, presenting 14 legal arguments.
Professor Muhammad Yunus's interim government Law Adviser Asif Nazrul welcomed the acquittal calling it the outcome of last year's student-led movement that ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League regime on August 5.
'The credit for creating the scope for establishing this justice goes to the July-August mass movement leadership,' Nazrul said in a social media post.
In 2009, Bangladesh initiated a legal process to try key collaborators of Pakistani forces in 1971 on charges of crimes against humanity. Following trials, six top Jamaat-e-Islami leaders and one senior figure from former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party were executed after the Supreme Court's Appellate Division upheld their convictions.
Hasina and several members of her cabinet and party are being exposed to trial in the same tribunal—originally established to prosecute 1971 war crimes—on similar charges of crimes against humanity for their alleged actions during last year's crackdown on the uprising.
Islam's lawyer Shishir Monir said he was 'fortunate' because the five other senior political leaders had already been hanged while he 'got justice since he is alive'. PTI AR GRS GRS GRS
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
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