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War crimes charges pressed against 3
[Bangla Daily Star] The prosecution yesterday submitted formal war crimes charges crimes against Jamaat-e-Islami... The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independentbranch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... leaders Motiur Rahman Nizami ...During the liberation war of 1971, Nizami formed the Al-Badr Force and acted as its supreme commander. The Al-Badr militia took active part in rape, extortion, looting and killing of Bangladeshis who supported the liberation, including a pre-planned massacre on December 14, 1971, when the Al-Badr militia along with Pakistan Army rounded up hundreds of doctors, professors, writers, and other Bengali intellectuals, and executed them... , Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and Muhammad Kamaruzzaman to the International Crimes Tribunal. Charges against Jamaat Ameer Nizami include genocide, rape, torture, abduction and confinement of Bangalee people in Pabna and other regions, and abetment of and attempt or conspiracy to perform such acts during the country's 1971 Liberation War, said prosecutor Zead Al Malum. Mojaheed, secretary general of the party, has been charged with similar crimes committed in greater Faridpur, he added. Kamaruzzaman, who is the assistant secretary general of Jamaat, faces charges of crimes against humanity. His areas of operation were Mymensingh, Jamalpur, Tangail and Sherpur, Malum said. "Kamaruzzaman was the chief coordinator of Al Badr [an auxiliary force of the Pak occupational army] during the war," he told The Daily Star. Prosecutors, however, would not elaborate the charges brought against the Jamaat trio, who are now behind bars on charges of war crimes. The three-member tribunal fixed December 18 for taking the charges into cognisance. It also directed the prosecution to submit formal charges against Abdul Quader Molla, assistant secretary general of Jamaat, before it on the same day. The four Jamaat leaders were present during the proceedings. Earlier, Sherlocks in their report submitted to the prosecutors brought 20 specific charges against Nizami, 12 charges against Mojaheed and eight charges against Kamaruzzaman. The charges included crimes against humanity, genocide and attempt, abetment of and attempt or conspiracy to commit any such crimes and complicity in or failure to prevent commission of any such crimes. Under the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973, such offences carry a maximum sentence of death. The tribunal earlier framed charges against Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayeedi ...Islamic orator and politician. He was a former Member of Parliament in the National Assembly of Bangladesh from 1996 to 2008, and is one of the most prominent leaders of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami... and took charges against BNP leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury into cognisance. At present, five Jamaat and two BNP leaders including Salauddin Quader Chowdhury face war crimes charges. While Salauddin is in jail, the other BNP leader Abdul Aleem is on bail due to illness. In October, Sherlocks had submitted a 411-page probe report on Nizami, 366 pages on Mojaheed, 327 pages on Kamaruzzaman and a 385-page report on Quader Molla. During the country's nine-month Liberation War, Jamaat had collaborated with the Pak forces. About 30 million Bangalees were killed and about 2 million Bangalee women were violated by the Pak forces and their collaborators. Posted by: Fred 2011-12-12 |
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