Supreme Court starts hearing Nizami’s appeal against war crimes verdict

Hearing on an appeal by Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami challenging his death sentence for 1971 war crimes has started in the Supreme Court.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam started by reading out the charges to the four-member appeals bench led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha on Wednesday.

The other members of bench are Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Hasan Foez Siddique.

This is the sixth appeal against a war crimes verdict to be heard by the apex court.

On Oct 29 last year, the International Crimes Tribunal-1, chaired by Justice M Enayetur Rahim sentenced him to hang till death, nearly a year after the case was wrapped up.

The tribunal said in its unanimous verdict that eight of the 16 charges levelled against him had been proven.

The charges included spearheading the execution of intellectuals, mass killing, rape and loot during the nine months of bloodshed in 1971.

The 71-year-old, already carrying a death sentence in the 10-truck arms haul case, headed a militia group, which carried out a systematic campaign of torture and execution of pro-liberation elements during the 1971 war.

Nizami moved the Appellate Division on Nov 23 against the verdict.

He cited 168 reasons for letting him walk free in the 6,252-page appeal that include supporting documents.

The top appeals court on Sep 13, 2013 upheld the death verdict of Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General Abdul Quader Mollah. He was executed on Dec 12 that year.

A year later, the apex court commuted Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee’s punishment from death penalty to spending the rest of his life in prison.

However, a review of the order is pending since a copy of the full verdict is yet to be published.

On Nov 3, 2013, the court upheld the war crime tribunal’s verdict for Jamaat’s Assistant Secretary General Muhammad Kamaruzzaman and he was hanged on Apr 11, 2014.

On Jun 16, the Appellate Division upheld the death sentence handed to Jamaat Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammed Mojaheed. However, his execution is awaiting publication of the full verdict.

The court also upheld the death sentence of BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury on July 29.