The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has heard the prosecution arguments in the appeals case of condemned war criminal Mir Quasem Ali.
A five-member panel headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha adjourned the hearing until Wednesday after Attorney General Mahbubey Alam placed his arguments against Jamaat leader Quasem, who had been a commander of notorious al-Badr force in the Chittagong during the Liberation War.
At one stage of the hearing, the court on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction over the prosecution and the investigators of the International Crimes Tribunal for their “incompetence” as they had failed to bring witnesses against some charges brought against the war criminal.
The court said that they were shocked at the performance of the tribunal's prosecution team and the investigators. “Huge amount of money is being spent, but their responsibilities are not reflected in their performance,” it said.
The court also asked the prosecution to end their arguments by Wednesday.
The defence earlier claimed that his client had not been directly involved in any of the incidents and that the witnesses produced unreal depositions.
Top Jamaat-e-Islami financier Quasem, now 64, was awarded capital punishment by the tribunal on November 3, 2014. As many as 24 prosecution witnesses testified against Quasem.
The tribunal handed down the death penalty on two charges – for killing seven people, including teenage freedom fighter Jasimuddin, after abduction. He was also awarded a total of 72-year imprisonment on the eight other proven charges of abduction, conspiracy and planning.
The Appellate Division started hearing on his appeal on February 9. It is the seventh appeals case heard by the top court.
Quasem 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.
He had set up makeshift torture camps at different places in the port city including Daleem Hotel in Andorkilla, Dost Mohammad Panjabi building and Salma Manjil where pro-liberation people were handed down punishment.
According to the government, Quasem has also spent a large amount of money abroad to make the war crimes trials controversial.
