War criminal Salauddin Quader produced fake certificate to ‘prove’ alibi

In a desperate bid to have his death sentence overturned in a review hearing, war-crime convict Salauddin Quader Chowdhury had furnished a document the court found to be forged.

It was intended to prove he was not in Bangladesh during the 1971 Liberation War, a piece of evidence that may been clinching in his favour but scrutiny proved Pakistan’s Punjab University papers to be fake.

“It is a forged document that is apparently created for confusing this court,” said a four-member Supreme Court bench after rejecting on Wednesday Chowdhury’s review petition seeking a relook at his death penalty for war crimes.

The review judgment, released on Thursday, reached Dhaka Central Jail, where former minister and lawmaker Chowdhury is being currently kept, late in the evening.

The review petition was his last legal step to avert execution. His only option now is to seek presidential mercy.

In the 13-page judgment, the SC bench headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha said, “It is apparent that there is no error of law in the impugned judgment [appeal verdict] for our interference. We find no cogent ground to review our judgment.”

His lawyers had persistently maintained at the International Crimes Tribunal that Chowdhury was in Pakistan during the war in the face several freedom-fighters and witnesses testifying to his war crimes.

“In support of his claim, he produced a testimonial, allegedly issued by a professor of the department of Political Science, University of Punjab on 24th January, 2013.

“This [Appellate] Division disbelieved it observing that the petitioner could not bring any certificate from the University in support of his claim of undergoing studies,” the review judgment said.

The court wondered that “if he could collect affidavits and a testimony from Pakistan, what prevented him” from getting a certificate from the Punjab University “in support of his claim”. That “has not been explained”, it observed.

“This Division further held that there are strong oral and documentary evidence in support of the charges.”

The certificate was produced during the review hearing and Chowdhury’s lawyer Khandker Mahbub Hossain’s arguments hinged on it.

“Learned Counsel wanted to give an explanation to the effect that the petitioner applied for a duplicate copy earlier but he did not receive the same until November, 2015.

“This claim has no basis at all since the alleged certificate was issued in 2012. More so, there is no statement at all in this regard in his application.”

The court said: “Assuming that he applied earlier for duplicate copy of the certificate it was allegedly issued on 22nd May, 2012. There was no explanation why he did not produce it prior to 16th November, on which date he filed it in the section.”

The court, therefore, ruled that “no reliance could at all be attached on this certificate -- it is a forged document which is apparently created for confusing this Court”.

“Further, the authenticity of the certificate has not been certified by an authorised officer of the High Commission Office of Bangladesh stationed in Pakistan,” the court added in its observation.

Since Chowdhury’s lawyer had not questioned the merit of the case, the court assumed there was no legal error in the appeal verdict that upheld the tribunal judgment, the judges said.

“We find no cogent ground to review our judgment. The review petition is accordingly dismissed,” ruled the bench.​

Mujahid’s review dismissed

The apex court’s judgment on Wednesday rejecting Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid’s plea to review his death penalty was also published on Thursday.

During the review hearing, the Jamaat leader’s lawyer had harped on one point alone — since the Al-Badr, a vigilante group Mujahid led, was under the overall command of the Pakistani army, its leaders could not be held responsible for the crimes committed by the force.

Mujahid became secretary of the West Pakistan chapter of the Islami Chhatra Sangha in 1971. He subsequently went on to become the president of the then student wing of the Jamaat.

When the Chhatra Sangha metamorphosed into the Al-Badr during the Liberation War, Mujahid became its chief.

The force had masterminded and implemented the murder of intellectuals.

Mujahid was sentenced to death once this charge was proved.

As the leader of the Chhatra Sangha and the Al-Badr, Mujahid must accept responsibility for the crimes his force had committed, the review judgment said.

Since no error was found in the Tribunal verdict upheld by the Appellate Division, the petition to review the judgment was rejected, it concluded.