Jamaat-e-Islami tycoon Mir Quasem loses final battle to dodge death penalty for war crimes

The Supreme Court has sounded the death knell for Jamaat-e-Islami business baron Mir Quasem Ali by refusing to review the death penalty it had handed down for his 1971 war-time atrocities.

The verdict of the top appeals court means there is now no legal bar to executing his death sentence for the abduction, torture and killing of teenage freedom fighter Jashim Uddin Ahmed during Bangladesh’s nine-month War of Independence from Pakistan.

In line with the rules, now the pro-Pakistan Al-Badr militia commander of 1971 can only seek president's mercy by repenting for his crimes.

The government will execute the sentence if he does not seek clemency or the president rejects his petition.

A five-strong Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha delivered the verdict on Tuesday.

"Petition is dismissed," the chief justice said after taking seat at 9am.

The four other members of the bench are Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Mohammad Bazlur Rahman.

Upholding Mir Quasem's death sentence, the court said, "We found him guilty. Conviction is maintainable."

Later, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told reporters that the apex court has also made a correction in the review verdict regarding Charge No. 14 against Mir Quasem.

"Charge No. 14 says Nasiruddin was taken to Dalim Hotel and tortured. The Appellate Division has upheld the 10-year prison sentence given to the accused on that charge. But it wasn't mentioned in the verdict's operating part. Only that has been corrected."

Under this charge, Mir Quasem was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for leading a group of Al-Badr members in abducting Nasiruddin Chowdhury from his house in late November 1971 and torturing him at Dalim Hotel.

Chowdhury was released along with more than 100 others on Dec 16 by the locals.

An official of the Supreme Court Registrar's Office said a certified copy of the full review verdict will soon be sent to the Dhaka Central Jail through the International Crimes Tribunal, kick-starting the process to hang Mir Quasem.

The wartime "terror of Chittagong" had rapidly risen through the ranks to change his own and the Jamaat's financial and political fortunes with extraordinary shrewdness and went on to bankroll party schemes.

The 63-year-old war criminal is currently in a condemned cell at Gazipur's Kashimpur prison. He heard the verdict on Tuesday morning on radio, jail officials said.

After the judgment was pronounced, his chief defence counsel Khandaker Mahbub Hossain told reporters, "The court has delivered the verdict based on false witnesses and evidences.

"The court had no other choice. The law is formulated in a way that it somewhat forces (the court) to accept hearsay as evidence."

Asked whether his war criminal client would seek presidential mercy, Hossain said, "Please go and ask (Mir Quasem). I am a lawyer, fighting for law."

On the other hand, Attorney General Alam in his immediate reaction said the State was happy with the verdict. "The wish of the whole nation and I have come true."

The process of execution followed in previous war crimes cases would be maintained this time as well, he added.

Mir Quasem is the sixth war criminal to see the verdict at its execution level. He is the fifth top Jamaat leader whose death sentence for war crimes has been upheld in the final verdict.​

Attempts to obstruct justice

The same Appellate Division bench judged Mir Quasem's appeal on Mar 8, upholding the death sentence given by the ICT on Nov 2, 2014.

The law minister of the day, Shafique Ahmed, when the trial was underway on Apr 28, 2013, said Mir Quasem gave $25 million to a US lobbyist firm to make the war crimes trial questionable.

The government has copies of the receipt of the transaction and the contract, he said.

The State submitted the memo to the Supreme Court during the hearing of the appeal.

The Washington firm Cassidy and Associates said in the receipt that it had received $25 million from the Jamaat financier for “professional service”.

During the hearing of the review petition, Chief Justice Sinha said the court did not take the receipt as evidence, but considering the number of companies the convict owned, the State did not apparently do 'excesses' to bring the allegation.

The chief justice's dissatisfaction over the inefficiency of the prosecution and investigation panel during the appeal hearing had also created ripples.

The attorney general also said at the hearing that the Appellate Division acquitted Mir Quasem of one of the two charges, for which he was given death sentence by the tribunal, due to 'incompetence' of the prosecution and investigation panel.

The defence tried to defer the review petition hearing on numerous occasions.

According to Attorney General Alam, the time of hearing Mir Quasem's review petition is double the other cases.

The death sentence charge

Charge No. 11

Mir Quasem, the ‘Khan Saheb’ of Dalim Hotel, ordered the killing of freedom fighter Jashim Uddin on Nov 8, 1971 after abducting him from an unknown location after the Eid-ul-Fitr. The young fighter’s body, along with those of five other unknown people, was thrown into the Karnaphuli river.

Sentence - Death by hanging.

# Chief Justice SK Sinha has written the review verdict. The four other judges of the bench agreed with him.

# The death sentence for the charge No. 11 - abduction, torture and murder – had been upheld in the appeal verdict. Now the Appellate Division confirms he deserves the penalty by rejecting the review petition.

# The Appellate Division acquitted him of charges No. 4, 6 and 12. A total of 58-year imprisonment was upheld for charges No. 2, 3, 7, 9, 10 and 14. The defence confined its argument in respect of charge No.11.

# The review petition said the prosecution has been able to prove the charge and that the tribunal was justified in finding him guilty.  "This petition is dismissed," the verdict said.

Mir Quasem was indicted on Sep 5, 2013 on 14 counts including murder, abduction and torture.

Said to be one of Jamaat’s top financiers, he was a director and of Islami Bank and chairman of the Diganta Media Corporation, believed to be pro-Jamaat.

He is also the founder of Ibn Sina Trust and director of the NGO Rabita al-Alam al-Islami.

An executive council member of Jamaat, Mir Quasem was arrested on June 17, 2013 at the offices of newspaper Naya Diganta less than two hours after the tribunal issued a warrant for his arrest.