Arrest warrants issued out for Liaquat, Rajab, accused of war crimes

The International Crimes Tribunal has issued arrest warrants for two suspected war criminals after taking cognizance of seven charges levelled against them.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 18 May 2016, 02:04 PM
Updated : 18 May 2016, 03:13 PM

The three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Anwarul Haque, issued the warrants on Wednesday.
 
The accused are Mohammad Liaquat Ali, 61, of Habiganj, and Aminul Islam alias Rajab Ali, 62, of Kishoreganj.
 
They have been accused of committing mass killing, murder, abduction, torture and loot during Bangladesh’s Liberation War in 1971.
 
Prosecution lawyer Rezia Sultana Chaman told bdnews24.com that they had appealed for the issuance of arrest warrants after formal charges were pressed against them and that the court granted the pleas.
 
The case will come up hearing again on Jun 21.

The seven charges

According to the first charge, Liaquat and Rajab, supported by Pakistani soldiers, committed mass killing and loot in Krishnapur village under Habiganj’s Lakhai Upazila on Sept 18, 1971.

Forty-three Hindus were shot dead during their raid.

The second charge is of mass murder and loot in Chandipur village, the third of mass killing and loot in Gadainagar village, and the fourth of murder in Sadanagar village – all under Lakhai Upazila.
 
The fifth charge is of abduction and killing of two people in Fandauk village under Brahmanbarhia’s Nasirnagar Upazila, the sixth and seventh for murder in Sabianagar village under Kishoreganj’s Austagram.
 
The two accused

According to the prosecution, Liaquat was a student of Brahmanbarhia College in 1971. As a member of the anti-liberation Muslim League, he joined the Pakistani militia Razakar and headed it in Fandauk union.
 
He had gone into a long hiding after independence. He joined the Awami League when he resurfaced and subsequently became the president of the party’s Lakhai Upazila unit.
 
Rajab Ali, hailing from Alinagar village under Austagram, became president of the Bhairab Haji Asmat Ali College unit of the Islami Chhatra Sangha in 1970.

According to the prosecution, Rajab attended arms training at the Pakistani Army camp in Bhairab and later formed the local unit of Al-Badr militia once he returned to his area.
 
It says freedom fighters caught Rajab after the independence and was jailed for life in three cases filed under the Collaborators Act, 1972.
 
Freed in 1981, Rajab authored a book titled ‘Ami Al-Badr Bolchhi (I am Al-Badr Speaking)’.
 
The prosecution says Rajab’s statements in the book proved the war crimes charges against him.