The International Crimes Tribunal 1 on Tuesday handed down the death penalty to BNP leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury for his involvement with war crimes during the Liberation War.
Reactions were issued from across the political spectrum, from ministers to pro-BNP lawyers, political leaders, freedom fighters, Ganajagaran Mancha and cultural personalities immediately after the verdict.
The Dhaka Tribune has compiled initial reactions.
Government reactions
State Minister for Law Quamrul Islam, on behalf of his ministry, said the verdict reflected the desires of the people of the country, adding that the government was also satisfied with the verdict.
He said: “As [the people] are happy, we are also satisfied with the verdict.”
He made the statement at the ministry’s meeting room soon after the verdict was delivered by International Crimes Tribunal 1.
Quamrul said: "The law never spares anyone, no matter what you boast, or however you undermine the law."
Regarding the allegation of the leak of the verdict before it was announced, he said: “We already submitted an application to BTRC to look into the matter immediately after we came to know about the leak.”
“But I think this kind of allegation is a part of the move that has always been against the trial since the inception of the tribunal,” he added.
Quamrul said there had always been a group who tried to present the tribunal as controversial.
Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu said the verdict proved that Salahuddin Quader had committed the crimes.
He said: “People demanded justice for the barbaric activities of Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury during the Liberation War.”
Inu denied the allegation of leak of a verdict, saying that was a sheer lie. The minister said: “BNP-Jamaat is behind this false propaganda. Legal action will be taken against those who will be found guilty of spreading this propaganda.”
BNP Chairperson’s advisor’s reaction
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's Adviser Khandaker Mahbub Hossain said the party would try the persons involved with the trial process if it assumed power.
He said: “Each and every person involved with the trial process will be tried if BNP assumes the power.”
BNP also wanted the trial of war criminals, he added, but the process must be transparent.
The party would appeal against the verdict, said the Supreme Court lawyer.
Family, lawyers' reactions
Lawyers, family and colleagues of Salahuddin Quader said they had been denied proper justice, hours after the BNP leader was sentenced to death on Tuesday.
Though he is the first BNP leader whose verdict has been delivered in war crimes tribunal, the party is yet to make any official statement in this regard.
Lawyer of the convict Fakhrul Islam said justice was "dictated," claiming that the verdict was leaked from the law ministry before it was delivered in court.
“The judges should have resigned or called retrial because of this. We have been denied justice,” he said while speaking to media in the afternoon.
He said just as exams cannot be held with leaked question papers, similarly justice cannot be ensured with a leaked verdict.
Salahuddin Quader's son Hammam Quader Chowdhury said the court ignored evidence showing that his father had been abroad during the Liberation War.
“We received the verdict copy [Monday night] in an e-mail saying it was from the law ministry,” he told reporters. “We will appeal against the verdict.”
A platform of pro-BNP lawyers, Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Parishad, said the trial did not follow international procedures and was short of proper standards.
At a press conference, BNP leader and lawyer Moudud Ahmed was brandishing a copy of what he said the leaked verdict.
Ganajagaran Mancha’s reaction
Ganajagaran Mancha expressed joy over the death penalty for Salahuddin Quader. The activists of the platform brought out a victory procession after the verdict was announced.
They said the verdict was a “victory of [their] movement.”
Ganagajaran Mancha organiser Bappaditya Basu said: "Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury is a notorious war criminal. He executed killings not only during the time of the Liberation War, but he also tried to destroy the pro-liberation forces after the war."
Maruf Rasul said: “The feeling at this victory is different. Salahuddin Quader killed a lot of people during the Liberation War. He has always been against our Liberation War. With the verdict it has been proved that BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami are the parties against the spirit of our liberation.”
Other reactions
Muntasir Mamun, a history professor at DU, said: “It is not a matter of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The majority of people expected the verdict, as Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury perpetrated genocide and torture on minority people.”
Executive President of Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee Shahriar Kabir said the Pakistani occupation forces could not have committed this much massacre if Salahuddin Quader and Jamaat-e-Islami had not collaborated with them.
He said: “There have been allegations that he used to kill injured people who were left by the Pakistani Army. He is a born criminal, or else he would not have shown arrogance every time.
“Such an attitude cannot be expected from a normal human being,” said the writer.
He thanked the witnesses who gave depositions against the war criminal despite getting threats consistently.