The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday acquitted Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam in a case over crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Liberation War, reports UNB.
A seven-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, passed the order.
Azharul Islam, a former assistant secretary general of Jamaat, had been facing nine charges of crimes against humanity, including genocide, rape, abduction, torture, and arson in the Rangpur region during the war.
According to the chargesheet, he was held "responsible" for the killing of 1,256 people, abduction of 17 others, and rape of 13 women, among other atrocities.
On December 30, 2014, the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) sentenced him to death on five of the nine charges. Azhar had been in custody since his arrest and consistently denied all charges.
He filed an appeal with the Appellate Division on January 28, 2015, seeking to overturn the verdict, and later submitted a review petition on July 19, 2020, after the full text of the Appellate Division's verdict — delivered on October 23, 2019 — was released on March 15, 2020.
Earlier, on April 22 this year, the Appellate Division stayed the hearing of the review petition until May 6.
Tuesday's acquittal marks a significant turn in the case, which has remained one of the most high-profile war crimes trials since the formation of the ICT.
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