War criminal Ghulam Azam’s chief counsel Barrister Abdur Razzaq has said they would appeal before higher courts against the verdict.
In a written statement read out in a press briefing at his Dhanmondi chamber, Razzaq said: “We resent the verdict. We believe that it is against the spirit of justice and was driven by emotions. It would be very hard to find another such verdict in the history of criminal lawsuits. We want to clearly say that the prosecution has failed to prove beyond doubt any of the 61 counts of allegations brought against him [Ghulam Azam]. It is an utter failure of the prosecution.”
In the statement, Barrister Razzaq highlighted the anomalies in the verdict that the International Crimes Tribunal 1 pronounced against Ghulam Azam.
He commented that if being involved with the formation of the Shanti Committee was a crime then the definition of the term “crimes against humanity” had to be changed.
However, admitting that Ghulam Azam had believed in the unity of Pakistan, Razzaq claimed that believing in and working in favour of the independence and sovereignty of Pakistan could not be synonymous with committing genocide and crimes against humanity.
He also said they did not believe that the charges brought against Ghulam Azam had anything that might substantiate his involvement with genocide or crimes against humanity.
Replying to a query, Razzaq also claimed that the comments that the Tribunal made, about Jamaat-e-Islami being involved with crimes against humanity as a party, was completely unacceptable and in complete breach of laws.
In response to another query, he said the judges of the tribunal, who said they were feeling anxious while delivering the verdict, should not have felt so had they come up with the verdict based on concrete evidence.