The war crimes tribunal has framed charges against Syed Mohammad Qaisar, former minister of Ershad’s regime, for his alleged involvement in the crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Liberation War.
The International Crimes Tribunal 1 headed by Justice Obaidul Hassan passed the order in the morning.
After framing the charges, the tribunal set March 4 to begin the opening statement of the trial.
Qaisar is accused of killings, genocide, rape, looting, arson and other inhumane acts during the liberation war.
On November 10 last year, the prosecution submitted formal charges against Qaisar.
Qaisar was arrested on May 16, just one day after the tribunal had ordered his arrest. He was admitted to a private hospital in the capital. The tribunal later granted him conditional bail considering his age.
According to the probe report, Qaisar was a Convention Muslim League leader during the war and a local Peace Committee leader and razakar commander. He also formed “Qaisar Bahini” to collaborate with the Pakistani occupation army and committed various crimes.
Qaisar fled to London after Bangladesh gained independence in 1971 and returned in 1975. In 1979, he took part in the national elections as an independent candidate and was elected as a lawmaker. He then joined the BNP.
During the regime of military dictator HM Ershad, Qaisar joined the Jatiya Party and became the state minister for agriculture.
