The main leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, Azharul Islam
DHAKA … News Time
Bangladesh Supreme Court upholds death sentence of Jamaat-e-Islami leader in war crimes trial however, the lawyers took the stand that they would be executed in the next few months. French news agency AFP reports that ATM Azhar ul Islam is the main leader of the opposition party, Jamaat-e-Islami, who was sentenced to death in 2014 on rape, murder and genocide during operation in 1971 by Bangladesh Army. It is to be noted that these are the sixth Islamist leaders who were punished for their role during the war. The lawyer, Khandaker Mahboob Hussain, told reporters that the Supreme Court, headed by Bangladesh Chief Justice Syed Muhammad Hussain, rejected the appeal filed by the 67-year-old Islamic leader with a majority decision. He said that we would file a review appeal against the decision as the age of Azharul Islam’s 1971 war was only 18 years. However, in the judicial history of Bangladesh, the decision on revision appeal is quite unusual. And the sentence was retained in all previous appeals for war crimes.
Azhar ul Islam was the general secretary of the Jamaat-e-Islami, which supported Pakistan in the 1971 war, he is the last of the main leaders of the party, facing charges of war crimes. It is to be noted that the Bangladeshi government set up a controversial International Crime Tribunal in 2010, whereby dozens of people, including five Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, have been executed. Among those sentenced are former ministers of the central opposition party National Party.
In the Azhar ul Islam case, the prosecutor said that the accused was involved in the killing of 1,200 people in Rangpur during the war as a Pakistani-backed militia leader and head of the student wing. The Jamaat-e-Islami, which is forbidden to participate in the elections, said the War Crimes Tribunal aims to eliminate top religious leaders from Bangladesh. Remember that the Supreme Leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami was hanged in 2016, a wave of violence erupted in Bangladesh 14-14 against the punishment given to these leaders, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people. Human rights groups say international trials are not considered in these trials. Meanwhile, the Bangladeshi government held that these trials were necessary to heal the wounds of the 1971 war, that claimed to have killed 3 million people, but independent researchers say the numbers are far less.
