The country’s Apex court has confirmed death for notorious war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury for committing crimes against humanity and genocide against the Hindus and freedom fighters in Chittagong during the 1971 Liberation War.
Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha pronounced the verdict on Wednesday morning upholding the death sentence given to the former minister by a war crimes tribunal two years ago on four charges of genocide and killing.
Salauddin was acquitted on one charge, for the murder of Satish Chandra Palit, in which he had been given a 20-year jail sentence. His jail sentences awarded on four other charges were upheld by the four-member Appellate Division bench.
On October 1, 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal 1 found the former BNP lawmaker guilty of nine of the 23 charges and sentenced him to death on four, 20 years in jail on three and five years in jail on two other charges.
The three other judges of the SC bench are Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Hasan Foez Siddique.
Salauddin, 66, is the first BNP leader to get death for atrocities during the war. He is the second former minister after Jamaat-e-Islami’s Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid whose death sentence was also upheld by the top court.
Son of former Convention Muslim League leader Fazlul Quader Chowdhury, charismatic Salauddin hails from Gohira area of Raozan in Chittagong. They used their Goods Hill residence as a torture camp during the war.
The tribunal had observed that the war criminal had committed “horrendous atrocities” on unarmed civilians in Chittagong in collaboration with the Pakistan occupation army and razakars with an aim to annihilate the Hindu community that “trembled the collective conscience of mankind.”
The parliamentary affairs adviser to BNP chief Khaleda Zia during her tenure as the prime minister in 2001-06, Salauddin appealed against the tribunal judgement on October 29, 2013 seeking acquittal.
After the final verdict, Salauddin claimed himself innocent.
His lawyer and family members said that they were not satisfied with the apex court’s decision and that they would seek review to get “justice.”
“Our lawyers will brief you about the verdict. The only thing I will say is that a review plea will be filed. My father is innocent,” said the convict’s son Humam Quader Chowdhury. Humam is a prime accused in a case filed for leaking a part of the draft verdict from the tribunal’s computer in 2013.
The war criminal’s counsel Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, sitting beside Humam at a press conference, said: “You know that Salauddin Quader Chowdhury was elected from his area a number of times since 1979, the area where he participated in Pakistani atrocities.
“How could a person, who barbarically treated people of his area in connivance of the Pakistani Army and killed them, be repeatedly elected to the national parliament from the same area?”
He said they would file the review plea after getting a copy of the full verdict. “We hope that the capital punishment will be ‘done away with’ when the review plea is heard.”
Khandaker Mahbub is one of the advisers to the BNP chief. He was a prosecutor during the trial of collaborators in 1972. In 2013, he was warned by the tribunal for his comments on the trial procedure and threatening to try those related to the trial once the BNP comes to power.
The BNP yesterday expressed disappointment over the verdict. At a press conference, party’s acting spokesperson Asaduzzaman Ripon said: “The Appellate Division verdict disappointed and surprised us and also made us sad. The BNP believes that Salauddin Quader Chowdhury is a victim of political vengeance. Like his lawyers, we believe that he was denied justice.”
On the other hand, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam yesterday said he was content with the verdict.
“The government will initiate the process of execution after receiving the full verdict...Our expectation is fulfilled with the verdict,” he told reporters adding that there was no scope of changing the death sentence during review.
Tribunal prosecutor Tureen Afroz said: “The verdict has proved that a lawmaker can be punished if he turns into a lawbreaker.”
Salauddin behaved audaciously at the tribunal many times during the trial and asserted that he had been a lawmaker. On many occasions, he passed derogatory comments on different issues including the trial process, the country’s judiciary and the Liberation War, Tureen said.
“It was was difficult to produce witnesses against him since they were afraid of the war criminal,” the prosecutor said.
Gonojagoron Moncho welcomed the verdict and demanded quick execution. Led by its spokesperson Imran H Sarker, the activists had been observing sit-in at Shahbagh every afternoon since July 24 demanding capital punishment for the war criminal.
The ruling Awami League too expressed satisfaction over the verdict. From a press conference in the capital, party’s Joint General Secretary Jahangir Kabir Nanak said the judgement proved that there is rule of law in the country. The government would continue the trial of war criminals despite efforts by the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami to foil it, he added.
Security was beefed up in the capital and Chittagong ahead of the verdict. Despite this, the locals from Raozan refrained from talking to the media in fear of reprisal.
However, local Awami League supporters and activists of the Gonojagoron Moncho brought out victory processions and distributed sweets among people.
Salauddin was arrested in Banani of the capital on December 16, 2010. He was shown arrested on December 19 following a warrant issued by the tribunal. He was indicted on April 4, 2012 on 23 charges.
He was also sued on sodomy charges in March 2013 when he was at the Kashimpur High Security Jail.
Seven people, including Salauddin’s wife Farhat Quader Chowdhury and son, his lawyer and manager were sued for their alleged involvement in leaking the draft verdict before its pronouncement in 2013. The Cyber Tribunal of Dhaka is set to hold the indictment hearing on September 20. Salahuddin’s family had spent a lot of money to leak the verdict with an aim to make the court controversial.
The final verdict
The Appellate Division bench upheld death sentences for Salauddin on each of the four charges – killing of Nutan Chandra Singha, killing and atrocities on Hindu population in Banik Para of Sultanpur village in Raozan, killing around 70 people at Unosottor Para, and torturing and killing of Awami League leader Mozaffar Ahmed and his son Sheikh Alamgir.
The court also upheld his 20-year jail term given on charges of acts of genocide at Madhya Gohira Hindu Para and acts of genocide, persecution and deportation at Jogotmollo Para.
His five years of prison – handed down for abducting, confining and torturing three people at Chittagong Cantonment, and torturing Salehuddin at Good’s Hill – was upheld by the apex court.
Salauddin was acquitted of 14 other charges.
As many as 41 people testified against the BNP policymaker while four, including the convict, defended the charges at the tribunal. In his testimony, the convict refuted all the charges claiming that he had been in Pakistan from March 29, 1971 to April 20, 1974, and three other defence witnesses echoed him. Although the tribunal had dismissed the information, his counsel reiterated the claim during the appeal hearing.
The convict had left Bangladesh in September 1971 after sustaining injuries in an attack by the freedom fighters and returned to the country in 1974 after the death of his father in jail, the tribunal said. Then he started politics and became lawmaker from Muslim League, Jatiya Party, NDP and BNP.
What’s next?
As per law, the Appellate Division bench will now publish the full verdict and send it to the tribunal for issuing a death warrant. Upon getting the warrant, jail authorities will read it out to the convict.
The defence will be able to file a review petition within 15 days from the publication of the full verdict. Once it is disposed of and the death sentence is upheld, the convict will have the opportunity to seek president’s mercy.
If Salauddin is denied mercy or he declines to appeal for his life, the government will execute the tribunal verdict by hanging him from the neck.
‘I am innocent’
Salauddin showed strong nerves after hearing about the verdict on radio and through the jail officials, Jailer Md Faridur Rahman Reza said, reports our correspondent.
“I am innocent. I am a victim of political vengeance. I have been framed,” Farhad quoted the convict as saying.
“He will file a review petition against the judgement and hoped that it will stand...‘I did politics for the country, the people...I am not unimportant. May be some people are angered by remarks and I have been harassed’.”
