Verdict of 8 Jamalpur ‘Al-Badrs’ tomorrow

A special tribunal in Dhaka will deliver tomorrow the verdict of eight Jamalpur "Al-Badr men" accused of committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 led by Justice Anwarul Haque fixed tomorrow to deliver the verdict. On June 19, the tribunal kept the case waiting for verdict.

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The accused are facing five charges including murder, abduction, torture, confinement and arson committed between April 22 and December 11 in 1971.

The accused are: SM Yousuf Ali, Shamsul Haque, Ashraf Hossain, Prof Sharif Ahammed, Abdul Mannan, Abdul Bari, Harun and Abul Hashem. Of them, Yousuf and Shamsul, arrested on March 2 last year, are now in jail.

Ashraf is believed to have fled to India while the rest are on the run in Bangladesh, according to the tribunal's investigation agency.

BACKGROUND

According to the agency, Jamalpur and Sherpur were the birthplace of Al-Badr, an auxiliary force of the Pakistani occupation army.

Ashraf, along with executed war criminal Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, and Kamran, all leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami's the then student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha, organised Al-Badr in greater Mymensingh.

Sharif, Mannan, Bari, Harun, and Hashem were also involved in Islami Chhatra Sangha and turned into Al-Badr members, the agency said.

Sharif was a director of Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd between 1987 and 2003 and executive and managing director of Bangladesh Publications Ltd, which owned the daily Sangram, between 1999 and 2013.

Shamsul, as a Jamaat candidate, ran for provincial assembly membership in the 1970's election from Jamalpur and Yusuf, also with Jamaat's ticket, vied for membership in the national assembly. Both were defeated.

Yusuf became a national assembly member through a "so-called" by-election in 1971, the agency said, adding that the duo patronised Al-Badr in Jamalpur.

On October 26 last year, the tribunal framed the five charges and the prosecution produced 25 witnesses, including the case's investigation officer, and some documentary evidence. The defence declined to produce any witness.