Defence lawyers for Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdus Subhan yesterday said they would file an appeal petition, challenging the tribunal verdict against him while the prosecution expressed satisfaction with the verdict.
A three-member International Crimes Tribunal 2, led by Justice Obaidul Hassan, yesterday handed down the death penalty to Subhan for atrocities committed during the liberation war of 1971.
Shishir Munir, lawyer of the senior Jamaat leader, said: “The verdict, which is given on the basis of the witnesses who were aged between two, three and four years at the time of the incident, is not acceptable. The tribunal has made a lawful and informational mistake while delivering the verdict.”
Adding that every case is unique, Shishir expressed hope regarding their appeal: “Just because the Appellate Division discharged previous appeals does not mean they will not accept this petition.”
“We will present our points in the appeal,” he said.
Subhan’s son Nesar Ahmed said his father is completely innocent and had absolutely nothing to do with the war crimes he has been proved guilty for. “We will appeal with the higher court and hope to get justice,” he said.
On the other hand, Prosecutor Sultan Mahmud Simon expressed satisfaction over the verdict, and said: “We are happy as we were successful in proving three charges against Subhan, for which he was awarded the death penalty.”
“We also tried our best to prove the three other charges in which Subhan was acquitted, but we failed to convince the tribunal,” he said.
Gonojagoron Mancha, the youth-led Shahbagh movement that sparked off in February 2013 demanding death penalty for all guilty war criminals, has expressed satisfaction with the verdict. Its spokesperson Imran H Sarker said: “We are happy with the verdict as it meets our expectations.”
“The war crimes trial procedure can be complete only once the verdict is executed,” he added.
