The International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) on Thursday took cognisance of the charges against Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam.
The tribunal set August 18 as the date for hearing the charges against the Jamaat leader. The three-member tribunal, headed by its chairman Justice ATM Fazle Kabir, also directed the prosecution to provide the defence with all relevant documents.
Azhar is accused of crimes against humanity during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.
The prosecution brought six charges—murder, genocide, abduction, torture, rape and confinement—against him, said prosecutor advocate Saiful Islam.
Earlier, on July 18, the prosecution submitted formal charges against Azhar to the tribunal.
Azhar, who was running Jamaat-e-Islami as its acting secretary general after the arrest of Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid, was arrested on August 22 last year, on charges of crimes against humanity.
The tribunal issued an arrest warrant against Azhar on August 22, following the prosecution’s petition for an effective and uninterrupted investigation into the allegations against the Jamaat leader. The ICT directed law enforcement agencies to produce the accused before it within 24 hours of his arrest.
-With The Independent input
