Nizami tells his Jamaat supporters to stay calm

Motiur Rahman Nizami has asked his Jamaat-e-Islami supporters to remain calm, saying he will battle the death verdict awarded to him ‘legally’.

His lawyer Tajul Islam told reporters about the call at the International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Wednesday after the 71-year old was sentenced to death for war crimes committed during Bangladesh’s Liberation War in 1971.

“Mr Nizami said, ‘all that they’ve accused me of are lies’. He has urged party workers not to react to the verdict at anyone’s incitement.

“He has told everyone to stay calm.”

The party, which heinously opposed the birth of Bangladesh, called shutdowns for Thursday, Sunday and Monday in protest at the tribunal’s judgment.

Clashes erupted in Sylhet and Rajshahi after the verdict was announced on Wednesday morning.

Nizami, as president of Jamaat’s student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha, headed the vigilante outfit Al-Badr committing genocide, mass killings, rapes and loots while assisting the Pakistani occupation forces to stop the struggle for independence.

“Mr Nizami said none of the charges upon which he was sentenced were true. He’ll handle it legally.”

The life sentence awarded to ‘Butcher of Mirpur’ Abdul Quader Molla last year was raised to death after both sides filed appeals and the Jamaat leader was hanged in Dhaka in December.

The death sentence awarded to Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee was commuted on the other hand.