War crimes accused AKM Yusuf dies

Jamaat-e-Islami leader AKM Yusuf, charged with crimes against humanity committed during 1971 Liberation War, has died.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 9 Feb 2014, 06:45 AM
Updated : 9 Feb 2014, 11:10 AM

Dhaka Central Jail Senior Superintendent Farman Ali said Yusuf was brought to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) hospital around 11am on Sunday after he fell ill in his prison cell at Gazipur's Kashimpur Jail.

He died soon after he was admitted at BSMMU, Ali added.

Yusuf was 87.

His lawyer Tazul Islam said the Jamaat leader was suffering from old age complications.

BSMMU director Abdul Majid Bhuiyan told bdnews24.com that the Jamaat leader died at the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) after he was taken there following a cardiac arrest.

Deputy Inspector General of Prisons Golam Haider told bdnews24.com that Yusuf had undergone a bypass surgery before.

After he fell sick in jail around 8:15pm, the doctor there had recommended to take him to BSMMU.

"He even spoke to our people after he was brought at BSMMU. He also asked to inform his family before he died," Haider said.

When reached, Yusuf's son AKM Mahbub said, "My father has died. I can't talk right now."

But the Jamaat leader's lawyer Shishir Munir at the hospital told bdnews24.com: "Prison authorities wanted to do an autopsy. But as it was a natural death, we have pleaded to the tribunal to hand over the dead body without conducting autopsy."

Yusuf's son-in-law Abdul Wahab said his remains would be brought to his home at Dhanmondi-10 in Dhaka if the tribunal agrees to hand over the body without conducting autopsy.

"Decision about his burial will be taken after his first namaj-e-janaza."

Wahab, however, claimed that his father-in-law did not get proper treatment at the hospital after he was taken there in the morning.

But, rejecting his allegation, BSMMU director Abdul Majid Bhuiyan said, “We did everything possible for a heart patient.”

Investigation had found evidence that Yusuf had formed the vigilante militia group Razakar - which has become synonymous with ‘collaborator’ in Bengali - in Khulna in 1971 and under his command almost 700 people were killed.

Razakars supported the Pakistani war effort during the Liberation War and were responsible for large-scale atrocities.

Yusuf was a member of the so-called Malek Cabinet, a puppet government formed by Pakistan during the Liberation War.

He was also Jamaat’s acting chief for some time.

AKM Yusuf was indicted by the International Crimes Tribunal-2 on 13 war crimes charges, including killing, genocide and arson on Aug 1 last year.

The tribunal had also set Feb 12 for the prosecution to begin argument.

Yusuf was arrested on May 12 from his Dhanmondi residence hours after the war crimes tribunal of Bangladesh issued the arrest warrant. The same day, the tribunal had taken into cognisance the charges against Yusuf submitted on May 5.

File Photo

According to the prosecution, Yusuf was the one who coined the term ‘Razakar’ for the support forces raised to collaborate with Pakistan during that time.

It was Yusuf, then Jamaat’s head of Khulna region and a former MP, who trained 96 Jamaat activists as Razakars in Khulna’s paramilitary camp. He also led all the anti-liberation war forces including the infamous Peace Committee, Razakars, Al Badr and Al Shams in the region.

The charges also said Yusuf was both directly and indirectly involved in many crimes against humanity including genocide, murder, rape, loot and arson that took place in different areas of Khulna during the war.

After the war, the Jamaat leader was sentenced to life imprisonment under the 1972 Collaborator’s Order, but he was released from jail on Dec 5, 1973 after the Mujib government announced general pardon.