The war crimes tribunal has set July 14 for submission of the formal charges or a progress report on the investigation against Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdus Sobhan, now behind bars.
The prosecution on Thursday submitted a progress report on the investigation process and sought one and a half months to submit the formal charges.
Sobhan, 84, the Jamaat nayeb-e-ameer, was arrested on September 20 last year in response to a prosecution plea to ensure a smooth investigation as it found evidence of his involvement in crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.
In their submission, prosecutor Sultan Mahmud said the investigative officer went to Pabna two times and gathered substantial information about Sobhan.
He added that Sobhan was the chief of Jamaat’s Pabna district unit in 1971. He formed Peace Committee, and razakar and al-Badr – auxiliary forces of the Pakistani occupation army – in his locality and committed crimes against humanity.
After the hearing, the chairman of the International Crimes Tribunal-1, Justice ATM Fazle Kabir, set the date and asked the prosecution to submit the formal charges on that day, if possible.
Investigative Officer Nur Islam told the Dhaka Tribune that Sobhan was a mastermind who formed razakar and al-Badr in Pabna during the war. He was also the vice-president of the Pabna district Peace Committee.
“Witnesses told us, as Abdus Sobhan was fluent in speaking Urdu, he easily managed to come close to the Pakistani army and became a policymaker of the anti-liberation forces. He supervised almost every activity of the razakars and al-Badr in that particular area.”
The Detective Branch (DB) of Police arrested the Jamaat leader from the eastern part of the Bangabandhu Jamuna Bridge in Tangail. One day after his arrest he was produced before the International Crimes Tribunal in Dhaka on charges of crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.
The tribunal, set up to try the war criminals for crimes against humanity that include genocide, rape, arson and lootings, has already delivered verdicts against Jamaat leaders Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, Abdul Quader Mollah and Delawar Hossain Sayedee. Verdicts are pending in two war crimes cases against former Jamaat chief Ghulam Azam and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed. Expelled Jamaat member Abul Kalam Azad was also sentenced to death.
The war crimes tribunal has set June 16 for the hearing on the charge of framing against absconding al-Badr leaders Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan. The trial will start in absentia if the accused fail to appear before the tribunal within the stipulated time frame.
In addition, Jamaat chief Matiur Rahman Nizami is currently facing trial. The other Jamaat leaders to face trial are Mir Quasem, AKM Yusuf and ATM Azharul Islam.
