The government is set to appeal by August 14 against what it called “inadequate” sentence handed down to former Jamaat chief Ghulam Azam for masterminding crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.
“Our preparation for lodging an appeal with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court to challenge the tribunal verdict is in its last stage. We will appeal by August 14 seeking death penalty for the Jamaat kingpin as the jail sentence is not adequate,” Additional Attorney General MK Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune.
On July 15, the International Crimes Tribunal 1, led by Justice ATM Fazle Kabir, said Azam was found guilty of all five charges – conspiracy, planning, incitement, complicity and murder. Although the crimes were punishable to death, the tribunal gave him “90 years in prison” considering his age and health.
The former Jamaat chief was 91 years old at the time the verdict was delivered by the tribunal.
“There is not another example in the history of war crimes cases where a court reduced punishment considering old age of the accused,” said Tureen Afroz, a prosecutor who argued at the tribunal against Azam’s “superior responsibility” for the atrocities in 1971.
After the verdict was delivered, Azam’s chief counsel Abdur Razzaq also admitted that such an example was still to be found in the world in which the age of a convict had been taken into consideration and the punishment got reduced in the verdict.
According to the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973, the appeal can be filed within 30 days from the pronouncement of the judgement.
"It is decided by the Appellate Division in its judgment that if the party did not appeal within the time specified in the special law, they will not get a time extension,” Deputy Attorney General Jahangir Alam told the Dhaka Tribune.
On August 5, Azam filed an appeal against the verdict with the Appellate Division seeking acquittal.
The hearing on the appeal against Azam verdict will start after the Supreme Court concludes hearing on the appeals filed by Delawar Hossain Sayedee and Mohammad Kamaruzzaman.
Both Sayedee and Kamaruzzaman were handed down death sentences by the tribunal for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War. A five-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain, fixed September 17 to start the appeal hearing of the Sayedee case.