Nizami death sentence upheld
Jamaat hartal today
MUHAMMAD YEASIN
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday upheld the death penalty for Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer, Matiur Rahman Nizami, for his involvement in wartime offences.
In its short order, the apex court said: This appeal is allowed in part. Appellant Matiur Rahman Nizami is acquitted of Charge Nos. 1, 3, 4 and his conviction and sentence in respect of Charge Nos. 2, 6, 7, 8 and 16 are maintained.
In a jam-packed courtroom, the four-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, read out the summary of the verdict at 9:05am.
The party has called a daylong countrywide hartal for today to protest the verdict.
The other members of the bench were Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Hasan Foez Siddique.
The International Crimes Tribunal-1 had on October 29, 2014 found him guilty of eight charges out of 16 brought against him for wartime offences. The ICT handed down the death penalty in connection with four charges, while it sentenced him imprisonment for several periods on the other four charges.
However, the apex court yesterday acquitted the Jamaat chief Nizami of three charges and upheld the sentences of the tribunal on five other charges. It upheld the death penalty for Nizami on three charges.
The Supreme Court upheld the ICTs death verdict for Charge 2 brought against him for planning to commit crimes, killing 450 people, raping 30-40 women and deporting of villagers in Pabna on May 14, 1971.
The apex court also upheld the death penalty for Charge 6 brought against him for ordering the murder of 30 people of Dhulaura village in Pabna district on November 27, 1971.
The SC also upheld the ICT verdict that had awarded him the death penalty for Charge 16, brought against Nizami for his involvement in the killing of intellectuals and professionals during the War of Liberation in 1971.
The apex court also upheld the ICT verdict in respect of charges 7 and 8 brought against him for torturing and killing one Sohrab Ali on December 3, 1971, and killing Bodi, Rumi, Jewel and Azad at the Old MP Hostel on August 30, 1971, in which the ICT had sentenced him life term imprisonments.
However, the apex court acquitted Nizami of Charge 4, bought against him for involvement in murders, rapes, loot and destruction of properties at Karamja village in Pabna district on May 8, 1971, in which the ICT had awarded him the death penalty.
The apex court also acquitted Nizami of Charge 1, brought against him for causing arrest, detention, torture and murder of three victims, including, the head Maulana of the Pabna Zilla School, Kasim Uddin, on June 4, 1971, in which the ICT had ordered life term imprisonment.
It also acquitted Nizami of Charge 3 brought against him for involvement in torture, murder and rape at the Mohammadpur Physical Training Institute in 1971, in which the ICT had awarded him life term imprisonment.
Attorney General (AG) Mahbubey Alam expressed satisfaction over the apex court verdict that awarded the death penalty to Nizami. The AG said: The verdict reflects peoples expectations. It has also fulfilled our expectations. I am feeling relived and satisfied, he added. He also said that the superior responsibility of killing intellectuals and professionals by the Jamaat chief has been proved by the apex court verdict.In response to a query, the chief law officer of the state said the execution would be carried out after disposal of the review petition, if he files it.
In response to another query, he said questioning the apex court judgement would tantamount to contempt of court.
On the other hand, chief defence counsel Advocate Khandaker Mahbub Hossain expressed dissatisfaction over the verdict and said they would decide on the next course of action regarding the filing of review petition against the verdict after discussion with their client. He also said that the evidence submitted before the court by the prosecution was fake. Pakistani military personnel were the prime accused in the war crimes as they were involved. But they have been let off without trial.
The war crimes trial was being conducted at this time against Nizami and others for their association with the Pakistani army. Nizami cannot be hanged just because he was their associate, the defence counsel said.
We had hoped that the court might commute his death penalty considering his age. But the court did not do this as the prosecution submitted fake evidence before the court after taking some witnesses to the safe home. One day, people would come to know about the fake witnesses statements, he added.
In response to a query, he said: As a lawyer, we have to accept the verdict, whatever it may be. Then well analyse it and if we find that our points were not properly addressed, we have the chance to seek a review, he added.
On December 8, a four-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, had fixed January 6 for delivering the final verdict in the case. Tight security arrangements were made in and around the Supreme Court premises to avoid any untoward incident.
On October 29 last year, the ICT-1 found 71-year-old Nizami guilty in eight of the 16 war crime charges brought against him, and handed down the death penalty for four charges and life imprisonment for the remaining four.
The ICT-1, however, acquitted Nizami of eight other charges as the prosecution failed to prove them.
On November 23 last year, Nizami filed an appeal before the Supreme Court, challenging the ICT-1 verdict. The appeal, containing 6,252 pages, cited 168 reasons for Nizami to be acquitted of the war crime charges. The apex court began hearing Nizamis appeal on September 9, and resumed hearing on November 17.
On January 30, a Chittagong court sentenced Nizami to death in the 10-truck arms haul case. His appeal in the case is yet to be disposed of by the High Court. Nizami has been detained in the Kashimpur high-security prison in Gazipur.
