verdict in the trial of former Jamaat-e-Islami chief KILLER Ghulam Azam on Monday

The first war crimes tribunal of Bangladesh will deliver its verdict in the trial of former Jamaat-e-Islami chief KILLER Ghulam Azam on Monday.Victims of wartime cruelty and their family members have been waiting 41 years for today as they believe Ghulam Azam was the key character behind the mass murder, rape and displacement of lakhs of Bangalees during the Liberation War. In Liberation War history, the former Jamaat chief is accused of having played an active role in trying to prevent the birth of Bangladesh and collaborating with the Pakistan army in the killing of 3 million Bangalees and rape of more than a quarter million women.
Three months after completing case proceedings, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 yesterday announced that today it would deliver the judgment in Ghulam Azam’s caseMany have raised questions as to why it took the tribunal so long to deliver the verdict in what they call an open-and-shut case. But a murmur began among journalists and lawyers in the courtroom yesterday when Ghulam Azam’s name appeared at no. 4 on the to-do list of Tribunal-1.
While some waited for one more day to have closure of what they called a blot on the nation’s history, others braced for what Jamaat would do after the verdict.
In stark contrast, activists of Gonojagoron Mancha, a platform of youths that demands the highest punishment for war criminals, started gathering at Shahbagh intersection last night.
On May 13, 2012, Ghulam Azam was indicted on five charges, which include involvement in murder and torture of unarmed people; conspiracy to, planning for, complicity in and incitement to commit genocide and crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971.
The brief profile of the accused in the indictment order said: At the time of the country’s Liberation War in 1971, all leaders and workers of the Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Sangha, under Ghulam Azam’s leadership, opposed the liberation movement.
“At that time Jamaat-e-Islami became an auxiliary force under the Pakistan army and since he was the ameer (chief) of Jamaat-e-Islami, he not only controlled the organisational framework of Islami Chhatra Sangha but played the pivotal role in forming the Shanti Committee, Razakars, Al-Badr, Al-Shams etc,” the order read.
“He was also elected uncontested a member of the National Assembly from Tangail district through a sham election held in 1971,” the order read.
He went to Pakistan on November 22, 1971.
After the liberation of Bangladesh on December 16, 1971, in the early part of 1972, he formed a committee named “Purbo Pakistan Punoruddhar Committee” (East Pakistan Restoration Committee) as part of his campaign to restore East Pakistan.
A total of 16 prosecution witnesses, including seven “seizure-list” witnesses and the investigation officer, testified against Ghulam Azam, while only Ghulam Azam’s son testified in favour of the accused between July 1, 2012, and February 14, 2013.
The prosecution and the defence completed their closing arguments between February 17 and April 17 this year.
Wrapping up their closing arguments, the prosecution sought capital punishment for Ghulam Azam on many grounds, one of them for issuing the directive to kill 38 people in Brahmanbaria in 1971.
The defence claimed that the prosecution had failed to prove any of the five charges, which were based on 61 incidents.
The two tribunals dealing with the war crimes cases have already delivered verdicts in four cases. Jamaat Nayeb-e-Ameer Delawar Hossain Sayedee, Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General Muhammad Kamaruzzaman and expelled Jamaat member Abul Kalam Azad were sentenced to death while Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah received life imprisonment.
The war crimes case against Jamaat General Secretary Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed is pending verdict delivery.
Albeit unofficial, this would be the second verdict delivered in connection with the alleged atrocities carried out by Ghulam Azam in 1971. The unprecedented people’s court, a symbolic court organised by Shaheed Janani Jahanara Imam, sentenced him to death on March 26, 1992.
CHARGES
One of the charges against Ghulam Azam was his involvement in the torture and murder of 38 people in Brahmanbaria on November 11, 1971. The victims include Shiru Miah, a sub-inspector of Mohammadpur Police Station.
The Pakistani forces with the help of their collaborators — Razakar and Al Badr — killed the 38 after receiving a written order from Ghulam Azam, the charges said.
The tribunal also charged him with conspiring to commit crimes on six occasions on which different crimes against humanity were perpetrated across Bangladesh.
The former Jamaat chief was charged with planning to commit crimes on three occasions, which resulted in crimes against humanity committed across the country.
He was also charged with 28 instances of provoking crimes and his complicity in 23 incidents of crimes against humanity.