The International Crimes Tribunal 1 yesterday observed that appointing a notorious war criminal like Motiur Rahman Nizami as minister was a “great blunder” and a “slap” on the faces of martyrs of the Liberation war.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia being a prime minister in her second full-term tenure (2001-2006) appointed two leaders of anti-liberation party Jamaat-e-Islami as cabinet members.
One of them Nizami, also ameer (chief) of Jamaat, was convicted on charges of war crimes yesterday.
Another one was Jamaat Secretary General Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujaheed. He was appointed as technocrat minister for Social Welfare Ministry.
Mujaheed has already been convicted on the same charge during the Liberation War in 1971.
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Tribunal 1 chairman Justice M Enayetur Rahim, members justices Jahangir Hossain and Anwarul Haque yesterday in their verdict in Nizami’s case strongly criticised the acts of appointing war criminals as minister.
The tribunal awarded Nizami death sentence for genocide during the War of Independence in 1971.
The judges in the verdict said there had been no proof before the nation that Nizami had ever felt repentant for his anti-liberation activities nor had he ever paid his respect to the departed souls of three million martyrs.
Discussing Nizami’s infamous role against Bangladesh’s Liberation War and crimes in 1971, the judges said: “It is very much hard to believe that a person who actively opposed the very Liberation War of Bangladesh was appointed as a minister of the republic.”
The appointment of the accused as a minister by the then government who happened to be an anti-liberation leader was a great blunder as well as a clear slap on the face of the Liberation War as well as three million martyrs and two lakh women who sacrificed their chastity for the liberation of Bangladesh.
They continued: “And as such this shameful act was disgraceful for the nation as a whole.”
The judges also said: “We do not find any material in the record to show that the prosecution is for political purpose..... rather “the nation” has been discharging their unfinished task and obligation to million of martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the Independence of Bangladesh.”
It is true Motiur Rahman Nizami is at present the ameer of a political party – Jamaat-e-Islami – but it does not mean his trial was held driven by a political motif.
Law does not and cannot provide impunity to politicians for committing criminal offenses particularly the crimes against humanity, they went on to say.
A person can obviously not claim impunity if he advances with his political belief by resorting to criminal activities and if he does so he cannot allege that his trial is meant to serve a political purpose, the judges said.