The retired High Court judge Nazrul Islam Chowdhury has withdrawn himself as the counsel of death row war criminal Mir Quasem Ali.
Justice Nazrul withdrew himself from the proceedings during the third day hearing of the appeal filed by the Jamaat leader at Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Monday afternoon.
The five-member bench led by Chief Justice SK Sinha was conducting proceedings of the hearing.
Nazrul told the chief justice: “I am sorry. Two senior lawyers will continue the proceedings. I am withdrawing myself.”
Jamaat-e-Islami leader Quasem, a commander of al-Badr in Chittagong during the war, was awarded capital punishment by the International Crimes Tribunal 2 on November 3, 2014.
Quasem appealed against the judgement on November 30, 2014 seeking acquittal.
The Jamaat leader, now 64, joined Islami Chhatra Sangha, then student wing of Jamaat, in 1967 while studying at Chittagong Collegiate School. He later became its Chittagong City unit general secretary.
He played an important role in forming al-Badr Bahini and in carrying out torture and killings of freedom fighters and intellectuals at Daleem Hotel in the port city.
According to the government, Quasem has spent a large amount of money abroad to make the war crimes trials controversial.
