War crimes convict Abdus Subhan file appeal against tribunal’s verdict

Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdus Subhan has appealed against his death sentence awarded by the war crimes tribunal.

His lawyer Shishir Monir filed the appeal with the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The 1,182-page document offered 92 arguments against the verdict, he said.

On Feb 18, the International Crimes Tribunal -2 found Subhan guilty of six war crimes charges out of the nine levelled against him.

Subhan was the chief of the Jamaat’s Pabna unit and was a member of the party's highest policymaking body in the post-Liberation War era.

It came to light in the trial that Subhan, with Pakistani soldiers, had indulged in murders, mass killings, arson and lootings once ‘Operation Searchlight’ was launched on the night of Mar 25, 1971.

He is the ninth top Jamaat leader to be convicted for war crimes committed during Bangladesh’s war of independence from Pakistan.

A former MP from Pabna town, Subhan was born on Feb 19, 1936, in the Tailakundi village at Sujanagar.

His father was Sheikh Naimuddin, and mother, Nurani Begum.

In 1954, he passed the Kamil exams from the Aliya Madrasa in Sirajganj. He later became the head Maulana of the same institution, and subsequently the superintendent of the Ulot Senior Madrasa in Arifpur.

He was appointed the chief of the Pabna district unit of the Jamaat once it was formed. From 1962 to 1965 he was a member of the Provincial Council.

He contested in the 1970 election but lost to Awami League candidate Amjad Hossain.

Subhan was the General Secretary and subsequently the Vice-President of the 'Peace Committee' in Pabna during the 1971 war, formed to help the Pakistani forces in suppressing the freedom struggle of the Bengalis.

It was under his leadership that units of the Peace Committee, Razakars, Al Badr, Al Shams, and Mujahid were formed in police station areas of Pabna district.