Mujaheed appeals

Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General and war crimes convict Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed has appealed against his death sentence in a war crimes case.

The former Al-Badr commander moved the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Sunday challenging the verdict which ruled him to be ‘hanged by the neck’ for unleashing his ruthless Al-Badr militia on unarmed intellectuals and mass murders he planned and executed during the 1971 Liberation War.

His lawyer Tajul Islam submitted the 95-page appeal seeking acquittal citing 115 different reasons against the verdict.

The defence submitted a total of 3,800 pages of documents with his appeal petition, Islam told reporters.

Zainul Abedin Tuhin was shown as the advocate on record.

The International Crimes Tribunal-2 sentenced Mujaheed to death on July 17 after finding him guilty of five of the seven charges levelled against him including murder of intellectuals, genocide, abduction, torture, and murder.

But the prosecution failed to prove two charges against him beyond reasonable doubt.

The verdict said Al-Badr was formed to collaborate with the Pakistani Army during the war and prosecution has proved that Mujaheed had ‘effective control’ of that force.

Thirty-nine years after Bangladesh’s independence, on June 29, 2010, Mujaheed was arrested on charges of defying court orders and was shown arrested in the war crimes case on Aug 2, 2010.

Later, charges against him were taken into cognisance by the ICT-1 on Jan 26 before the case was transferred to ICT-2 set up to punish those behind the brutalities during the nine-month struggle for independence.

The Jamaat Secretary General was indicted on June 21 last year for allegedly committing crimes against humanity including murder, genocide, arson and loot.