The Supreme Court has reinstated the war tribunal’s death sentence awarded to former minister and Jamaat-e-Islami Chief Motiur Rahman Nizami for committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.
A four-member bench headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha delivered the verdict on Wednesday morning.
The court upheld capital penalty for Nizami on three charges and life imprisonment on two charges. However, it acquitted him of three other charges.
According to the case, Nizami headed al-Badr force during the bloodiest war as the head of Islami Chhatra Sangha, Jamaat’s erstwhile student wing.
He was sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal on October 29, 2014. Eight of the 16 charges were proven by the prosecution. The tribunal gave him death penalty on four charges and life imprisonment on the others.
The tribunal said Nizami had been involved in “planning and conspiring” mass killings, murders, rapes and looting at different villages in Pabna. Nizami carries the “supreme responsibility” for the crimes committed by Chhatra Sangha and Jamaat men.
Nizami, who served as the agriculture and industries minister during the 2001-06 period, appealed against the sentence on November 23 that year. He was also awarded death sentence in sensational 10-truck arms haul case.
