SC adjourns Nizami appeal hearing
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday adjourned till November 3 the hearing on the appeal filed by Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami challenging a verdict that had awarded him death sentence for crimes against humanity during the Liberation War of 1971.
Earlier, in the morning, the four-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, began the hearing on the appeal. The other members of the bench were Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Hasan Foez Siddique.
During yesterdays hearing, attorney general Mahbubey Alam placed his arguments on eight war crime charges for which Nizami was convicted. Defence counsel Joynul Abedin Tuhin read out the statement of prosecution witnesses before the apex court.
This is the sixth appeal against a war crimes verdict to be heard by the apex court. The court has already disposed of five of the appeals.
On October 29 last year, the International Crimes Tribunal-1, chaired by Justice M Enayetur Rahim, had sentenced Nizami to death for war offences. The ICT found him guilty in eight charges out of 16 levelled against him for crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War.
On November 23 the same year, the Jamaat chief filed an appeal with the apex court, challenging the tribunals verdict. He sought acquittal of all the eight charges on which he was found guilty. In the 6,252-page appeal, along with supporting documents, he cited 168 reasons for letting him walk free.
The 71-year-old Jamaat leader had already received the death penalty in the 10-truck arms haul case.
