The International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Monday handed down 90 years imprisonment to former ameer of the Jamaat-e-Islami, professor Ghulam Azam, for his involvement in crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War. Although all allegations were proved, the three-member tribunal sentenced imprisonment instead of capital punishment, considering his age and poor health. The 91-year-old Azam was found guilty in all five charges against him and received 10 years’ jail term each for conspiracy and planning, 20 years each for incitement and complicity, while 30 years’ imprisonment for murder.
Justice ATM Fazle Kabir, chairman of the Tribunal-1, passed the verdict at around 1:45 pm in the jam-packed tribunal chamber with accused Azam in the dock.
“Professor Ghulam Azam has been found guilty in all five charges. The period of sentences awarded to him will run consecutively till his death. The total period of sentences of five charges is 90 years,” Justice Kabir said.
“Having considered the attending facts, legal position and the gravity and magnitude of the offences committed by the accused, we unanimously hold that he deserves the highest punishment, i.e. capital punishment as provided under Section 20(2) of the ICT Act of 1973. But in the same breath, we cannot overlook the mitigating circumstances which have come up before us for its due consideration. Facts remain that the accused is now an extremely old man of 91 years, coupled with his long ailment. These two factors are considered by this Tribunal as extenuating circumstances for taking a lenient view in the matter of awarding punishment to the accused. Having regards to the above facts and circumstances, we are of agreed view that the ends of justice would be met if a mitigating sentence is inflicted upon the accused.” the Tribunal said explaining its position.
“The accused is held guilty to the offence under Section 3(2), 4(1) and 4 (2) of the International Crime (Tribunals) Act, 1973, while he is convicted and sentenced under Section 20(2) of the act,” Justice Kabir said.
As to the matter of “superior responsibility”, he said Azam was held liable as a civilian superior under Section 4(2) of the act for crimes committed by his subordinates and he failed to prevent them from committing atrocities all over Bangladesh.
Prosecutors, lawyers, witnesses, journalists and a number of civil society members were present at the tribunal to hear the much-awaited verdict against Azam, dubbed the architect of all 1971 atrocities.
Azam’s son Abdullahil Aman Azmi, the only defence witness in the case, along with some of his relatives, was also present but no defence lawyer was seen at the tribunal when the judgement was delivered.
Azam, wearing a white punjabi and checked lungi, was brought to the tribunal chamber at 10:40 am, just five minutes before the tribunal members took their seats.
Before the pronouncement of the verdict, Justice Kabir gave a brief explanation about the trial. “This case is different from others. It is exceptional. In other cases, the accused persons were directly involved in the crimes. The special feature of this case is that the accused person was not directly involved in any crime,” he said.
“Ghulam Azam was a very well-known name during the Liberation War. It is recognised that he performed the responsibility of ameer of the East Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami in 1971. Not only that, he was an influential member of the Shanti Committee’s central committee,” he said.
Five charges containing 61 counts were brought against him, Justice Kabir said.
“He was not present at any place of incident. But he could not avoid the ‘superior responsibility’ as the chief of East Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami because three militia forces – Razakar, Al Badr and Al Shams — were formed with members of the Jamaat-e-Islami. They carried out different crimes, including murder, genocide, rape, torture and pillage and he (Azam) as the superior leader did not prevent or punish them,” he said.
Regarding the delay in delivery of the verdict, the chairman said they faced difficulties in finding out adequate number of books to use as references.
The three judges reeled off 75 pages of the 243-page judgement. Justice Anwarul Huq started reading out at around 11:00 am.
Regarding Azam, the order said he was born on November 7, 1922 at village Birgaon at Nabinagar upazila in the district of Brahmanbaria.
The leaders and workers of the Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, the Islami Chhatra Sangha, actively opposed the Liberation War under his leadership.
Referring to the role of the Jamaat-e-Islami, the order said the party itself also acted as an auxiliary force under the Pakistan armed forces in 1971. Azam as the ameer of the East Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami controlled the organisational work of the party.
With regard to Azam, the order said he played the pivotal role in forming the Shanti Committee, Razakars, Al Badr and the Al Shams, and collaborated with Pakistani occupation forces when the Bengalees were fighting for liberation.
When he realised that Bangladesh was going to be liberated soon, he left for Pakistan on November 22, 1971. After the liberation of Bangladesh on December 16, 1971, he formed a committee named “Purbo Pakistan Punoruddhar Committee” (East Pakistan Restoration Committee). He left Pakistan for London in the middle of 1973 and set up the head office of the “Purbo Pakistan Punoruddhar Committee” there. His Citizenship was cancelled by the Bangladesh government on April18, 1973. Following the assassination of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, he returned to Bangladesh on August 11, 1978 with a Pakistani passport and since then he has been residing in this country. Later, he got back his citizenship through court.
However, the verdict drew dissatisfaction from both parties – prosecution and defence – as they expressed their wishes to appeal against the judgement.
Giving instant reaction over the verdict, the chief coordinator of the prosecution and acting attorney-general Advocate MK Rahman said he was not happy with the judgement.
“We are not happy with the verdict as war crime accused Jamaat chief Ghulam Azam has been found guilty in all charges brought against him beyond reasonable doubt,” Rahman told reporters soon after the pronouncement of the judgement. Replying to a query, the acting attorney-general said: “After getting the full text of the judgement, we’ll consider whether we will appeal against the verdict. According to the charges brought against Azam, he deserves capital punishment, but the tribunal gave him 90 years’ imprisonment considering his old-age complications,” he added.
Azmi, the son of Azam, also expressed disappointment over the verdict, saying that they did not get justice.
“I am aggrieved but not surprised. It is politically motivated. Those who failed to face him politically, have brought false and fabricated allegations for their personal gain,” he said. Talking to journalists, he said Azam was not a part of the government at any level. “He was not a minister. He was not related with the government in any way. The crimes might have been committed by Razakars, Al Badrs and Al Shams. Those were the auxiliary forces under the command of the Pakistani military. He (Azam) cannot be held responsible for their activities,” he added.
Wishing to file an appeal against the verdict, Azmi said there was no scope to sentence him even for a minute. “It is so funny, unbelievable. This is the case of no evidence. The Jamaat was not a big party in 1971. The Muslim League and the Pakistan Democratic Party were among the major parties. Besides, he met Tikka Khan only on April 4, 1971, 10 days after the incidents of March 25. If he were the architect of crimes, he would have met the Pakistani general before March 25,” said Azmi, former Brigadier General of the Bangladesh Army.
The prosecution submitted formal charges against Azam on January 5, 2012. The tribunal took the charges into cognizance and issued a production warrant against Azam on January 9. It sent him to jail on January 11, rejecting his bail petition. But Azam was shifted to the prison cell of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) hospital the same day due to health reasons.
The tribunal framed charges against Azam on May 13 last year.
The formal trial of Azam began with the prosecution submitting opening statement of the case on June 10 the same year. The proceedings of the case ended with the conclusion of arguments from both the prosecution and defence on April 17 and the tribunal kept the verdict pending through announcement of Court Adjourned Verdict (CAV) the same day. Advocate Zead Al Malum, Advocate Sultan Mahmud Simon and Barrister Tureen Afroz were the leading prosecutors against Azam, while Barrister Abdur Razzaq, Advocate Mizanul Islam, Advocate Tajul Islam and Barrister Imran Siddique appeared for Azam. It was the fifth judgement from the two International Crimes Tribunals. In earlier cases, Abul Kalam Azad alias Bachchu Razakar was sentenced to death on January 21, Abdul Quader Molla was awarded with life long imprisonment on February 5 and Muhammad Kamaruzzaman received death penalty on May 9 this year by the tribunal-2 for their participation in the crimes against humanity during the liberation war.
-With The Independent input
