Freedom fighters, martyrs’ families unhappy over ICT verdict on Mahidur, Afsar

The plaintiff in the case against war criminals Mahidur Rahman and Afsar Hossain Chutu, freedom fighters and families of martyrs in Chapainawabganj are unhappy with the International Crimes Tribunal’s verdict.

The Second International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-2) on Wednesday awarded imprisonment till death to Rahman and Chutu for crimes against humanity – killing, looting, arson, abduction and torture – during the 1971 Liberation War.
 
ICT-2 Chairman Justice Obaidul Hassan delivered the judgment.
 
After the verdict, locals at Binodpur under the Sibganj Upazila took out a procession, demanding death sentence for the two convicts.
 
However, Chutu’s family said they would appeal against the judgment.
 
The plaintiff, Badiur Rahman Buddhu of Monkosha Union, expressed his dissatisfaction.
 
He said the Razakars, led by Rahman and Chutu, killed 15 people in August, 1971 and 48 others in October and buried the bodies. They also set houses ablaze, he claimed.
 
Buddhu’s father was among the martyrs.
 
The two Razakars should get the death penalty for killing so many people, said Mashiur Rahman Bachchu, a freedom fighter and a member of a martyr family from Binodpur’s Lachhmanpur village.
 
Freedom fighter Mohsin Ali reacted similarly.
 
Ali’s father Abdur Rahim Baksh Mandal is a case witness.
 
Nine of those murdered were members of Shafikul Islam’s family.
 
“The Razakars should get the capital punishment for murdering 39 people, including nine from my family alone, Islam said.
 
However, Chutu’s family also claimed he should have been acquitted since he had already served a sentence for the ‘same’ guilt.
 
He was found guilty of murdering 24 people during the war in a 1973 verdict and served life imprisonment until 1983, according to Chutu’s son ‘Masud’.

Masud said his family would appeal against the verdict.