Top court acquits Jamaat’s Azharul in war crimes case

The Supreme Court has acquitted Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam in a war crimes case, overturning the death sentence previously handed down by the International Crimes Tribunal.

A full seven-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, delivered the verdict on Tuesday after hearing Azhar’s second appeal in six years.

The ruling comes after a dramatic shift in the political landscape sparked by the July Uprising, and marks the first exoneration of a war crimes convict following a review petition.

The verdict sent lawyers into raptures at the court premises, shouting the pro-Jamaat slogan “Naraye Takbir”.

Azharul's legal counsel Md Shishir Manir said, "Through this verdict, the truth has won out and falsehood has been defeated."

Assistant Attorney General Anik R Haque represented the state at the hearing but refrained from making any comments.

Azharul was sentenced to death by the ICT on Dec 30, 2014. He was found guilty of orchestrating mass killings, abduction and torture in the greater Rangpur area, where over 1,400 people were massacred in 1971.

Challenging the verdict, Azharul filed an appeal on Jan 28, 2015. However, the Appellate Division subsequently upheld his death sentence on Oct 31, 2019.

In a sharp reversal on Tuesday, the Appellate Division ruled that the previous judgment had "failed to properly consider" all the evidence in the case.

The top court has ordered Azharul's release, provided there are no other cases pending against him.

Azharul was arrested on Aug 22, 2012, from his Moghbazar residence on war crimes charges and has been in prison since then.

BASIS OF ACQUITTAL

After the full verdict was published on Mar 15, 2020, Azharul submitted a review petition, which the Supreme Court accepted.

The top court completed the hearing on May 8 and set Tuesday for its verdict.

Lawyer Shishir later outlined the court’s observations. “The court said that in the previous verdict, the criminal justice framework of Bangladesh, as part of the Indian subcontinent, was changed. This was a grave error.

“The court said Azharul Islam was sentenced to death without a full assessment of the evidence presented. Another important point it emphasised is that injustice done in the name of justice is a travesty of truth.”

Labelling the decision as “unprecedented” in the “history of the world”, Shishir said:

“At least five Jamaat leaders died in prison. Such torture is without precedence.

“Azharul Islam is fortunate to have received justice. Therefore, we believe that this verdict has put an end to syndicated injustice. We also believe the verdict bolsters the dignity of Bangladesh.”

He continued, “From hereon, former acting secretary general of Jamaat Azharul Islam is an innocent man.”

Shishir said they had asked the court for a “short order”, which was accepted.

“The court said it would try to process the [release] order between Tuesday and Wednesday. We will take all necessary legal steps to this end.”

Jamaat's deputy chief, a designation known as Nayeb-e-Ameer among its ranks, Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher, who was at the court premises, said: “I thank the court and our countrymen. I express my gratitude. A clear and beautiful outcome of their movement and struggle has emerged today.”

Later, Law Advisor Asif Nazrul took to Facebook and wrote: “The credit for creating this opportunity for justice to be established goes to the fearless leaders of the July Movement. It is now the responsibility of all of us to protect this.”

THE CHARGES

Azharul was born to Nazir Hossain and Ramisa Begum on Feb 28, 1952 at Batasan Lohanipara village of Badarganj Upazila in Rangpur.

He passed his matriculation exam from Rangpur District School in 1968 and was admitted to Rangpur Carmichael College the following year. During the 1971 Liberation War, Azhar was the president of the district committee of the erstwhile student organisation of Jamaat, Islami Chhatra Sangha, according to the case documents.

It added that Azhar left the country and went to Saudi Arabia before Bangladesh’s triumph in the war on Dec 16, 1971, and returned to the country after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family were killed in 1975, obtaining his Masters degree from Dhaka University in 1980.

After Jamaat returned to politics during BNP founder Ziaur Rahman's rule, Azhar served in different positions in the party. In 1991, he was appointed as the chief of Dhaka Metropolitan Jamaat and in 2005, he became the assistant secretary general of the party's central committee.

After the then Jamaat secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid was arrested in a war crimes case, Azhar briefly served as the acting secretary general before being arrested on Aug 22, 2012, on identical charges.

On Apr 15 of that year, the tribunal's Investigation Agency launched a probe into the war crimes allegations against Azhar. The International Crimes Tribunal began Azhar's trial on Nov 12, 2013, after framing charges on six instances of war crimes against him.

According to the charges, in 1971, Azharul was the “commander of the Rangpur branch of the Al-Badr Bahini” as the president of the district committee of the Islami Chhatra Sangha.

“Under his leadership”, the pro-Pakistan militia carried out a massacre in greater Rangpur, killing “more than 1,400 people, raping and kidnapping many women, and torturing them”.

Azhar was also acquitted of those charges by the Appellate Division.

After the tribunal handed down the death penalty on Dec 30, 2014, Azhar thrust his hands up on the dock and told the judges: “I'm innocent. This verdict has been cooked up. You'll be tried in the court of Allah if Allah wills.”

A three-strong bench led by Justice M Enayetur Rahim then said: “The heinous crime committed by Azharul Islam cannot be justified by any punishment other than the death penalty.”

The second charge is that Azhar, along with several other Jamaat and ICS activists and Pakistani invading forces, shot dead 14 unarmed civilians while looting and torching many houses in Moksedpur village of Badarganj.

The tribunal sentenced him to death in relation to the third and fourth charges, involving the killing of 1,400 Hindu villagers near Jharuarbil in Badarganj and shooting dead four professors of Carmichael College and a professor’s wife near the Dum Dum Bridge.

The first witness in the case was a Birangana (war heroine), who was abducted and raped in Rangpur Town Hall. The prosecution demanded compensation for her.

Since the law does not contain a clear provision for compensation, the tribunal did not order compensation in its verdict. Instead, it asked the state to ensure recognition and rehabilitation.