Jamaat leader Abdus Subhan’s war crimes trial verdict Wednesday

Bangladesh’s war crimes tribunal will deliver its verdict on Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Ameer and former MP Muhammad Abdus Subhan on Wednesday.

He stood trial on charges of committing crimes against humanity during the the nation’s war of independence from Pakistan in 1971.

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-2, led by Justice Obaidul Hasan, kept its verdict pending after concluding the trial on Dec 4 last year.

Born in 1936, at Toilokundi village of Pabna's Sujanagar Upazila, Subhan was the chief of Jamaat’s Pabna unit and sat on the party's highest policymaking body during the post-Liberation War era.

He was the General Secretary and subsequently the Vice-President of 'Peace Committee' in Pabna during the 1971 war.

Subhan allegedly played a key role in setting up units of the Peace Committee across the district and forces like Razakar, Al Badr, Al Shams and Mujahid that were used to suppress the Bengali liberation struggle.

The Jamaat leader was arrested in a case of looting from Tangail on Sept 20, 2013. He was sent to the Pabna jail before being moved to Dhaka following a tribunal directive.