The state prayed for upholding the death penalty of war criminal Motiur Rahman Nizami yesterday – the concluding day of its arguments placing.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told the four-member Appellate Division of Supreme Court led by the Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha that only death sentence is appropriate for the war criminal as the nation wants justice for the martyrs of 1971.
He said the Al-Badr Bahini, an auxiliary force of the then Pakistani army, was formed when Nizami was the president of Islami Chhatra Sangha in 1971.
Members of the then student wing of Jamaat, the Chhatra Sangha, were involved in the politics of the Al-Badr.
“Nizami planned, assisted and instigated the intellectual killing which was executed by the Al-Badr,” he said.
The Attorney General placing examples of Hitler’s activities during the second world war, said nobody claimed that Hitler killed anyone by his hand but he was the mastermind behind killings of hundred thousands of people.
Mahbubey Alam started placing arguments around 9:30am. Senior lawyer Khandoker Mahbub and SM Shahjahan were present as the counsels of the Jamaat leader. He told the court that defense arguments were not acceptable as the International Crimes Tribunal-1 properly delivered the verdict examining all witness accounts and documents thoroughly.
Later, he told reporters that he hoped the appeal hearing would end today with placement of defense’s counter argument.
During the argument by the Nizami’s counsels on December 2, Khandker Mahbub Hossain appealed to the court to commute death sentences to life imprisonment for the 75-year-old Jamaat-e-Islami Chief Nizami considering his old age and illness even if he is found guilty of committing crimes against humanity in 1971.
He however, some moments earlier prayed to acquit Nizami of all the charges claiming that he was not directly involved in any of war crimes.
The International Crimes Tribunal-1 on October 29, 2014 awarded Nizami the death penalty on four charges of war crimes, including murdering intellectuals, life imprisonment on four other charges.
Nizami filed appeal with the SC against the tribunal verdict on November 23, 2014.
