Monday, July 15, 2013

Bangladesh Islamist Ghulam Azam found guilty of war crimes

Bangladesh Islamist Ghulam Azam found guilty of war crimes

Ghulam Azam is escorted by security personnel and lawyers as he emerges from the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal in Dhaka on January 11, 2012Ghulam Azam was the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami from 1969 until 2000.

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A war crimes court has found Islamist Ghulam Azam guilty of five charges relating to Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence with Pakistan.
Ghulam Azam was sentenced to 90 years in jail for his involvement in mass killings and rape during the war.
Supporters of Bangladesh's main Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party, which he led from 1969 until 2000, clashed with police ahead of the verdict.
It is the fifth sentence passed against current and former party leaders.
The court found Mr Azam, 90, guilty of five charges including conspiracy, incitement, planning, abetting and failing to prevent murder.
He faced more than 60 counts of crimes against humanity for his role in setting up militia groups which carried out atrocities during the war.
He denied the charges, which his supporters say were politically motivated.
Previous verdicts against Islamist leaders have also led to violent protests.
The International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh was set up by the current Awami League-led government in 2010 to try alleged collaborators of the Pakistani army during Bangladesh's war of independence.
Human rights groups have said the tribunal falls short of international standards.
Spiritual leader

Bangladesh independence war, 1971

Soldier
  • Civil war erupts in Pakistan, pitting the West Pakistan army against East Pakistanis demanding autonomy and later independence
  • Fighting forces an estimated 10 million East Pakistani civilians to flee to India
  • In December, India invades East Pakistan in support of the East Pakistani people
  • Pakistani army surrenders at Dhaka and its army of more than 90,000 become Indian prisoners of war
  • East Pakistan becomes the independent country of Bangladesh on 16 December 1971
  • Exact number of people killed is unclear - Bangladesh says it is three million but independent researchers say it is up to 500,000 fatalities
Prosecutors say Mr Azam should have received the death penalty for his role in setting up violent militia groups that killed and raped thousands of people.
But his defence lawyers say the charges are based only on newspaper reports of Mr Azam's speeches at the time, and none have been proved.
Jamaat has called for a general strike in protest.
Mr Azam was the party's leader from 1969 until 2000 and is seen by many as its spiritual leader.
Described by his party colleagues as a writer and Islamic thinker, Mr Azan was strongly opposed to Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan, arguing at the time that it would divide the Muslim community.
Police reportedly fired rubber bullets to disperse Jamaat-e-Islam supporters protesting in Dhaka and several other cities on Monday.
Journalists were among those injured in the violence in the Dhalpur district of Dhaka, police say.
More than 100 people have been killed since January in political violence sparked by verdicts handed down by the International Crimes Tribunal.
Human rights groups have said the tribunal falls short of international standards.
The BBC's Mahfuz Sadique in Dhaka says there is broad support in Bangladesh for the crimes committed during its liberation war to be punished.
But these trials have shown that coming to terms with the country's bloody inception has proven difficult for Bangladeshis, our correspondent adds.
The exact number of people killed during Bangladesh's nine-month war of secession is unclear: official Bangladeshi figures suggest as many as three million people died, but independent researchers suggest the death toll was around 500,000.

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