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The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has acquitted Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam of his death sentence in a war crimes case.
A full bench of seven justices led by Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed delivered the verdict on Tuesday (May 27).
During the announcement of the verdict, both prosecution and defence lawyers, senior leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, and the party’s legal representatives were present in the courtroom.
The seven-member bench entered the courtroom at around 9:50 am, and state prosecutor Gazi MH Tamim presented legal arguments before the court. The announcement of the verdict began at 9:55 am.
UNB adds:
Earlier, on April 22, the Appellate Division stayed the hearing of a review petition submitted by Azharul Islam in the case till May 6.
Lawyers Ahsan A Siddik and Mohammad Shishir Manir stood for Azharul Islam in the court during the hearing.
Following his arrest, Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azhar faced nine charges of “crimes against humanity.”
According to the chargesheet, he was “responsible” for killing 1,256 people, abducting 17, and raping 13 women during the Liberation War in the Rangpur region.
Besides, he was said to have tortured civilians, set fire to hundreds of houses, and committed other atrocities.
The International Crimes Tribunal sentenced him to death on December 30, 2014, on five out of the nine charges.
On January 28, 2015, the death-row convict submitted a petition to the Appellate Division claiming his innocence.
Later, on July 19, 2020, Azharul Islam filed the review petition with the relevant branch of the Appellate Division.
Following an appeal hearing, the Appellate Division, under a bench led by then-Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, upheld the death penalty in a verdict delivered on October 23, 2019.
The full text of the Appellate Division’s verdict was released on March 15, 2020, after which ATM Azhar submitted the review petition.