Incumbent Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, who had unleashed his men on the freedom fighters and pro-liberation people terming them miscreants in 1971, has lost the last legal battle at the top court.
His petition filed challenging the death penalty handed down by a war crimes tribunal in 2014 and seeking acquittal from the charges was rejected yesterday by a four-member Appellate Division bench led by the chief justice.
The top court found him guilty of five charges after conducting hearing during September to December last year. It upheld his death sentence on three charges and awarded life imprisonment on two others. Nizami was acquitted of three other charges.
“The appeal is partly accepted. He is acquitted of charges 1, 3 and 4. Penalty on charges 2, 6, 7, 8 and 16 maintained,” Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha pronounced around 9:05am yesterday in a packed courtroom.
The death sentence was awarded for Nizami for planning to commit crimes, killing 450 people, raping 30-40 women and deporting of villagers in Pabna on May 14, 1971; ordering the murder of 30 people of Dhulaura village in Pabna on November 27, 1971; and his involvement in the killing of intellectuals and professionals at the fag end of war.
His life imprisonment was upheld on the charges of torturing and killing Sohrab Ali on December 3, 1971, and killing freedom fighters Bodi, Rumi, Jewel and Azad followed by torture at the Old MP Hostel on August 30, 1971.
In its short verdict delivered yesterday, the court did not mention about the issues of considerations, legal aspects and its observations. Those would be described in the full text of the judgement.
After receiving the full text, Nizami, 75, will get 15 days to move a review petition against the appeal case judgement. Otherwise, the state can start the process of his execution. As per the order of the International Crimes Tribunal, the convict will be hanged by the neck until death.
With this, the top court bench has disposed of six war crimes appeal cases. Four of the convicts including three top Jamaat leaders were executed while the death sentence of another top Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee was commuted to life-term jail. Two other appeal cases filed by former Jamaat chief Ghulam Azam and former BNP leader Abdul Alim became moot as they died during the hearing.
Before Nizami, the tribunal sentenced al-Badr leaders Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan for the killing of intellectuals.
The appeal case of senior Jamaat leader Mir Quasem, who was given death penalty for his crimes in Chittagong as an al-Badr commander, will begin on February 2.
Centring the verdict, the authorities beefed up security across the country to handle any untoward situation. The Supreme Court and its adjoining areas were put under tight security with the deployment of additional forces from different agencies.
The verdict came at a time when the country is reeling from attacks by different militant groups targeting foreigners, secular activists, mosques and temples which the government claims are part of the BNP-Jamaat’s plot to foil the war crimes trials.
Jamaat-e-Islami, a key ally of the BNP-led 20-party alliance, condemned the sentence and declared a dawn-to-dusk shutdown for today in protest against the “planned killing of party leaders by the government.”
On the other hand, family members of the martyrs, war crimes trial campaigners, Sector Commanders’ Forum and Gonojagoron Moncho welcomed the long-awaited verdict, and demanded quick execution of the top war criminal. They also urged the government to ban Jamaat and confiscate properties of the condemned war criminals.
Jamaat had publicly acted against the liberation of Bangladesh during the war and spearheaded the formation of Peace Committee, Razakar, al-Badr and al-Shams to assist the Pakistani occupation forces in committing large scale atrocities. The party was termed a criminal organisation for its war-time role by the tribunal.
Top collaborator
Nizami headed the brutal al-Badr force until September 1971 as the chief of Islami Chhatra Sangha, then student wing of Jamaat, and instigated his men for the extermination of freedom fighters and noted intellectuals by giving inciting speeches.
The tribunal said: “In the light of evidence … we are led to hold that the accused [Nizami] as the chief of both ICS [Islami Chhatra Sangha] and al-Badr Bahini had civil superior responsibility in the commission of offences of crimes against humanity and genocide pursuant to their plan and design.”
According to the tribunal’s observations, Nizami, his political guru Ghulam Azam and other Jamaat leaders used to give wrong interpretation of Islam with an intent to inspire young generation to counter freedom fighters and pro-liberation Bangalees treating them as enemies of Islam.
Nizami has always denied the allegation of committing crimes against humanity during the war but admitted to supporting the cause of united Pakistan. After the formation of the tribunal, the Jamaat chief at a party meeting labelled the procedure as anti-Islam. During the indictment hearing, he also threatened that the tribunal judges would have to face the court of the Almighty and claimed that he had been a victim of political vengeance.
The tribunal in its verdict mentioned: “We are of the unanimous view that there would be failure of justice in case ‘capital punishment’ is not awarded for all the murders forming ‘large scale killings.’ No punishment other than death will be equal to the horrendous crimes for which the accused [Nizami] has been found guilty beyond reasonable doubt.”
Hailing from Pabna’s Santhia, three-time lawmaker Nizami served as agriculture and industries ministers during in 2001-2006. The tribunal judges in their verdict termed his appointment “a great blunder” and “shameful act” which was disgraceful for the nation.
He went into hiding after the war when Jamaat was banned by the government. He resumed politics in 1978. But he faced resistance by the war crimes trial campaigners at different places including Dhaka University and Jahangirnagar University.
Nizami has been at the helm of Jamaat since 2000 after Ghulam Azam went on to retirement.
He was also awarded death sentence in the sensational 10-truck arms haul case. The CUFL jetty, where the smuggled arms and ammunition were unloaded in Chittagong in 2004, falls under his jurisdiction as then the industries minister. He is also accused in at least two cases filed over corruption.
Review process, allegations
Shortly after the verdict was pronounced, Nizami’s counsels told reporters that the convict had yet to decide on filing a review petition.
“The decision to seek a review is entirely a personal choice of my client. If he gives the go-ahead, we will move a review petition. I think he may not file a review as there was no positive outcome in the previous instances,” Khandker Mahbub Hossain, chief counsel for Nizami, told reporters.
If the war criminal does not file a review petition, he will get the scope to seek presidential mercy – the last resort to save his neck.
During arguments in the case, Mahbub, also an adviser to the BNP chief, sought acquittal of Nizami from all the charges. He also prayed to the court to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment if it found him guilty of his wartime offence considering his age and identity as an Islamic scholar.
Mahbub yesterday said: “The court delivers judgement based on witnesses accounts and evidences. In future, the people will come to know who was the offender, who was not ... After long 40 years, the witnesses were kept at the safe home [of investigation agency’s] and taught what to say at the tribunal.
“The future history will say these were falsehood.”
Expressing frustration over the country’s failure to try the Pakistani Army officers, Mahbub, said: “For own political ideology, some people believed in Pakistan. They may have helped the Pakistan Army, but this does not mean that they took part directly in the killings, looting and rape. The 195 Pakistani soldiers were directly involved in those crimes.”
On the other hand, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam expressed satisfaction with the capital punishment handed down to Nizami. “The verdict has reflected the people’s expectations. I am satisfied,” he told reporters in an immediate reaction on the Supreme Court premises.
Law Minister Anisul Huq said execution of the death sentence was just a matter of time. “Nizami’s sentence will be carried out at the shortest possible time,” he told reporters after a programme in the city. Verdicts in the war crimes cases show that no can escape justice, the minister added.
Trial process
Nizami was arrested on June 29, 2010 in a case of hurting religious sentiment of the Muslims. The case was lodged after a senior Jamaat leader compared Nizami with the Prophet (PBUH) at a meeting of Chhatra Shibir on May 17, 2010.
He was later shown arrested in the war crimes case on August 2 the same year. The trial began on May 28, 2012 with the indictment order. During the trial, 26 prosecution witnesses testified at the tribunal against Nizami while four, including one of his sons, claimed that he was innocent. Arguments in the case were held twice as the then chairman of the International Crimes Tribunal 1 stepped down.
On October 29, 2014, the tribunal found him guilty of eight charges of a total of 16 brought against him. It awarded him death on four charges and life for others.
The Jamaat chief moved an appeal against the judgement on November 23, 2014 seeking acquittal. The appeal hearing began on September 9 and ended on December 8, when the court set yesterday for pronouncing the verdict.
