The counsels of condemned war criminal and influential Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem Ali yesterday concluded arguments on his appeal filed with the Supreme Court seeking acquittal.
The five-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha will hear from the attorney general on behalf of the state on February 23.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam yesterday told reporters that the trial proceedings might end by February 24.
During yesterday’s hearing, defence counsel SM Shahjahan argued that the statements of the prosecution witnesses in the case were not credible as the statements do not corroborate each other.
Quasem, a commander of al-Badr force in Chittagong during the 1971 Liberation War, was awarded capital punishment by the International Crimes Tribunal 2 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.
A top Jamaat financier, Quasem appealed against the judgement on November 30, 2014 seeking acquittal from the charges.
The Appellate Division started hearing on his appeal on February 9. It is the seventh appeals case heard by the top court.
“The defence has concluded their primary submission. We will place our arguments on February 23. They will perhaps reply on the legal grounds. We hope that the hearing will end by 23th or 24th. Then we will have to wait for the verdict,” the attorney general told reporters after the hearing.
Chief defence counsel Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, also BNP chairperson’s adviser, alleged that his client had not been directly involved in any of the incidents and that the witnesses produced unreal depositions. He hoped that the court would acquit him from all the charges.
On the other hand, Mahbubey said that the convict did not claim himself innocent as he had been the secretary general of Islami Chhatra Sangha during the war.
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.
He had set up makeshift torture camps at different places in the port city including Daleem Hotel in Andorkilla, where pro-liberation people were handed down punishment. Other allegations against him include involvement in mass killings in Asadnagar and Panchlaish areas.
Quasem in collaboration with the Pakistani occupation forces opened several torture cells in the city including Dost Mohammad Panjabi building and Salma Manjil where M Omar-ul-Islam and Lutfar Rahman Faruk among others were tortured following abduction.
According to the government, Quasem has also spent a large amount of money abroad to make the war crimes trials controversial.
