The International Crimes Tribunal on Tuesday indicted ATM Azharul Islam, assistant secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami, on six charges of committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.
The charges include abduction, confinement, murder, genocide, looting and arson.
After framing charges against Azhar, tribunal 1 set December 5 for beginning trial with the prosecution’s opening statement. The tribunal also asked Azhar’s counsel to submit documents and evidence within this time.
The Jamaat leader was the president of the Rangpur unit of Islami Chhatra Sangha, the student front of Jamaat in 1971, now known as Islami Chhatra Shibir. In all the charges, the tribunal mentioned Azhar’s political identity and his connections with Jamaat and the Pakistan Army during the war.
Tribunal Chairman Justice ATM Fazle Kabir on Tuesday read out the charges without any introduction. He said he was reading out only the relevant parts because the documents of the formal charge were too long. Justice Jahangir Hossain and Justice Md Anwarul Haque are the other members of the tribunal.
Azhar, in a white punjabi, had to keep standing at the dock when the charges were being read out because the tribunal had earlier ordered for not giving him any chair to sit. The order came on October 28 when the tribunal had said it would explain the reason on the charge framing day.
The tribunal on Tuesday said the order was passed because Azhar, in breach of court decorum, never stood up when the justices left the courtroom.
The tribunal said: “You [Azhar] should stand up not to show respect to the justices but to the court. The court will not give any privilege to a person who does not show respect to it.
“The [defence] counsels must be aware of the proceedings. They should let their client know about that,” the tribunal added.
Seeking apology, Azhar’s counsel Tariqul Islam then said their client would be duly informed about the decorum and that it would never happen again.
The tribunal then said Azhar could get a chair from the next session and started reading out the charges.
Azhar was accused of being involved in the mass killing of at least 15 unarmed civilians at Dhappar in Badarganj on April 16, 1971, and the genocide of at least 1,200 people at Jharua Beel in the same area the next day.
The other charges brought against Azhar included those for his involvement in abduction, confinement and murder of AY Mahfuz Ali and 11 others; killing of four lecturers of the Carmichael College and their wives near the Damdam Bridge.
According to charge number five, from March 25-December 16, 1971, a number of women from different areas were imprisoned in the Ranpur Town Hall where they had been raped and tortured.
When the charges were being read out, the tribunal chairman asked Azhar whether he pleaded guilty.
Azhar shouted in reply: “All the allegations brought against me are utterly false, fabricated and baseless. I am being persecuted only because of my political identity.
“Since 2010, this government has filed at least 12 cases against me and I got free in all of those. After that they arrested me under the ICT act 1973,” Azhar added.
Asking him to keep quiet, the tribunal then inquired: “You are not guilty, right?” Azhar answered in the affirmative.
According to the prosecution, the 60-year old war crime suspect was the commander of Rangpur district unit of militia force al-Badr during the Liberation War.
Originally from the Batason Lohanipara area in Badarganj upazila of Rangpur, Azharul was arrested from his Moghbazar residence in the capital on August 23 last year, and produced before the tribunal three days later. He has since been in jail.