The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday began hearing on the appeal of war criminal Mir Quasem Ali against his death sentence given by a special war crimes tribunal in 2014.
The five-member bench led by Chief Justice SK Sinha heard defence lawyer SM Shahjahan reading out the charges from the paper book. The court later adjourned the hearing until today.
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.
The tribunal handed down death penalty on two charges – for killing seven people, including one Jasim Uddin, after abduction. He was also awarded a total of 72-year imprisonment on the eight other proven charges of abduction, conspiracy and planning.
All these sentences will, however, merge with the death sentence if “he be hanged by the neck till he is dead” after confirmation of the capital punishment by the Supreme Court.
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.
