Nazib Momen, son of war crimes accused and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, on Thursday said his father believed in establishing an Islamic state.
Testifying as the fourth and last defence witness, Nazib said: “He [Nizami] is not only a politician but also an Islamic scholar. Studying books written by him and his political affiliations, I came to the conclusion that he has always believed in establishing Islamic rule in a democratic way.”
Nazib claimed that his father was facing the charges of war crimes because of his involvement with Jamaat. “No charges were brought against him from December 16, 1971 to 1986.”
He said no media reports, documents or research on 1971 atrocities had contained Nizami’s name as a war criminal of al-Badr, al-Shams, Peace Committee and razakar forces. He said Nizami’s name was also not included in the list of war criminals prepared by Bangladesh government officials with the help of the Pakistan government.
“Thousands of cases were filed under the Collaborators Act. Cases were filed following the Code of Criminal Procedure against the people who participated in crimes against humanity. I want to point it out clearly that not a single case was filed against him after the Liberation War until 1986,” Nazib told the International Crimes Tribunal 1.
“He [Nizami] has been involved in politics since the 60s when he was a student. Other student politicians of that period such as Tofail Ahmed, Abdur Razzaque and Rashed Khan Menon are well known now as national politicians. Nizami as a student politician used to deliver speeches and work for his party. No report on his activities during that time mentioned him as an al-Badr leader or commander,” Nazib said.
“The investigation report of the then exile government [Mujibnagar government] also does not claim him to be an al-Badr leader,” Nazib added.
The witness submitted a number of books and documents as exhibit documents. His deposition remained unfinished. The prosecution, however, raised objections over each documents submitted to the tribunal.
Led by Justice ATM Fazle Kabir, the tribunal set October 27 for further proceedings in the case.
The Jamaat chief is facing 16 charges of crimes against humanity he allegedly committed during the war in Pabna and Dhaka.
