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Motiur Rahman Nizami

Motiur Rahman Nizami

Jamaat-e Islami

Bangladesh

20051224

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Bangladesh

Investigators: Maqbul a war criminal

2016-11-15

[Dhaka Tribune] War crimes Sherlocks say they have evidence that 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 independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. 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... chief Maqbul Ahmad perpetrated crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War. "Our investigation against Maqbul has made headway but we’re yet to wrap it up," Hannan Khan, coordinator of the war crimes tribunal’s investigation agency, said at a media briefing yesterday. "The evidence we’ve gathered so far makes it clear that he was a Razakar," Hannan said, reports Bangla Tribune. He clarified that they recently got complaints against Maqbul. "We started investigating him based on a report run by an online newspaper." Hannan said the investigation is at the primary stage, adding that they would decide later whether to charge the Jamaat chief with war crimes. Jamaat-e-Islami openly opposed Bangladesh’s independence and formed auxiliary forces like al-Badr and Razakar to help the occupying Pakistain army carry out genocide on Bangalees. An estimated three million people were killed in the war and millions of others forced to seek refuge in India. The government put war crime suspects on trial after forming the International Crimes Tribunal in 2010. Most of the war crime convicts belong to Jamaat. Maqbul was named the party’s Ameer after its former chief, also al-Badr commander, 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... was executed in May this year. There are a number of allegations against Maqbul. Feni freedom fighter’s commander Meer Abdul Hannan claimed Maqbul headed the district’s Razakar unit during the war. He allegedly ordered the killing of East Pakistain Chhatra Union leader and freedom fighter, Maulana Waz Uddin. Local freedom fighter commander Shariatullah Bangali claimed Hindu households were torched and 10 Hindus were burned to death in Lalpur village under the upazila’s Joylaskar Union on Maqbul’s order. He alleged that the Jamaat leader had also ordered the killing of freedom fighter Ahsan Ullah. Investigators went to Feni to investigate war crime charges against Maqbul at the tribunal’s order. Maqbul hails from Omarabad village under Purbachandrapur union in Dagonbhuiyan upazila. He became a full-time politician after retiring from Feni Model High School. He reportedly has not visited his village home after the Awami League took over the government. Maqbul had been Jamaat’s acting chief for nearly six years since Nizami’s arrest. Meanwhile Jamaat-e-Islami in a press statement yesterday evening said the claims of war crimes allegation found against Maqbul is untrue. Nayab-e-Amir Mujibur Rahman said: "The chief of Jamaat Maqbul Ahmed was not a Razakar member or commander, or affiliated with the Peace Committees in 1971." "In 1971, Maqbul Ahmed was teaching at a prestigious high school in Feni. "Allegations against him of criminal masterminding the murders of people including a freedom fighter are untrue. "I request the authorities concerned to refrain from presenting baseless accusations to harass Maqbul Ahmed for political gain," he added.

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Bangladesh

Quasem swings for war crimes

2016-09-04

A top Islamist party figure was hanged in Bangladesh on Saturday for atrocities committed during the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan, the country’s law minister said, an act that could draw an angry reaction from his supporters. Mir Quasem Ali, 63, a key financier of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was executed at Kashimpur Central Jail on the outskirts of the capital for murder, confinement, torture and incitement to religious hatred during the war fought to break away from Pakistan. Ali was hanged at 10.35pm local time, law minister Anisul Haq told Reuters. The execution took place amid a spate of militant attacks in the Muslim-majority nation, the most serious on 1 July, when gunmen stormed a cafe in Dhaka’s diplomatic quarter and killed 20 hostages, most of them foreigners. Thousands of extra police and border guards were deployed in Dhaka and other major cities. Previous convictions and executions have triggered violence that has killed about 200 people, most of them Islamist party activists, and police. Since December 2013, five Jamaat leaders, including former top leader Motiur Rahman Nizami, and a leader of the main opposition party, have been executed for crimes committed during the 1971 war. Prosecutors said Nizami was responsible for setting up the pro-Pakistani al-Badr militia, which killed leading writers, doctors and journalists in the most gruesome chapter of the war. Their bodies were found blindfolded with their hands tied and dumped in a marsh at the outskirts of the capital. The trial heard Nizami had ordered the killings, designed to “intellectually cripple” the fledgling nation. He was hanged in May after being convicted in October 2014 by the international crimes tribunal, set up by the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, in 2010. The tribunal has drawn criticism from opposition politicians, who say it is targeting their political foes. The government denies the accusations. Human rights groups say the tribunal’s procedures fall short of international standards, but the government rejects that assertion, and the trials are supported by many Bangladeshis. Fair enough for that region. No need to bring in Carla del Ponte... Official figures show about 3 million people were killed and thousands of women were raped during the nine-month war, in which some factions, including Jamaat-e-Islami, opposed the breakaway. Independent researchers put the death toll at between 300,000 and 500,000.

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Bangladesh

Bangladesh executes top Jamaat leader Motiur Rahman over '1971 war crimes'

2016-05-11

[DAWN] Bangladesh on Tuesday executed the leader of the country's largest Islamist party for war crimes, officials said, a move set to exacerbate tensions in the volatile Muslim-majority nation. 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... , leader of the 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 independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. 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... party, was hanged at a prison in the capital Dhaka, just days after the nation's highest court dismissed his final appeal to overturn the death sentence for atrocities committed during the country's 1971 war. Law and Justice minister Anisul Huq told AFP the 73-year-old leader was hanged just before midnight (1800 GMT) after he refused to seek mercy from the country's president. "He was executed between 11:50 pm and 12:00 am midnight," Huq said. In 2013 the convictions of Jamaat officials for war crimes triggered the country's deadliest violence in decades. Around 500 people were killed, mainly in festivities between Islamists and police, and thousands were tossed in the calaboose Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! Nizami is the fifth and highest-ranked opposition leader -- and the fourth from Jamaat -- to have been executed since December 2013 for war crimes despite global criticism of their trials. "We've been waiting for this day," Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told news hounds, adding that people "will remember this day forever".

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Bangladesh

Economy of Islamic fundamentalism In Bangladesh

2016-02-10

[Dhaka Tribune] The war crimes tribunals, set up to punish those who had committed crimes against humanity during Bangladesh's liberation war of 1971, have already sent to gallows three leading lights of the 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 independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. 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... (JeI) -- Abdul Quader Mollah, Mohammed Qamruzzaman and Ali Ahsan Mujahid -- while death penalties have been awarded to 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... , the chief of the JeI in Bangladesh. However,

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Bangladesh

SC upholds Nizami's death sentence

2016-01-07

[Bangla New Age] The Appellate Division on Wednesday upheld the death sentence of Jamaat chief 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... for planning the killings of intellectuals in Dhaka and mass killings at two places in Pabna during the War of Independence. A four-judge bench chaired by Chief Justice SK Sinha, delivered the unanimous verdict at about 9.10AM amid pin drop silence the courtroom. The bench included, Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Hasan Foez Siddique. Later, Nizami's counsel Khandker Mahbub Hossain told news hounds that no decision was taken as yet whether a petition would be filed seeking review of the verdict. It depends on the client, he said, adding, if Nizami asks a review petition would be filed. But Nizami might as well not seek a review of the apex court verdict as no previous petitioner got any benefit from their review petitions. Khandker Mahbub also said his client did not deserve death sentence as an abettor as none of the principal accused in Pakistain army were tried. Nizami would get the opportunity to seek a review of the verdict, attorney general Mahbubey Alam told news hounds. On October 29, 2014, the International Crime Tribunal-1 sentenced Nizami to death on four counts of war crimes. The apex court upheld Nizami's death sentences on three charges which include planning intellectuals' killings and two charges of mass killings at two places in Pabna, his home district.

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Bangladesh

Nizami defence: Commute if guilty

2015-12-03

[Dhaka Tribune] War criminal 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... 's lawyers have urged the Supreme Court to commute his death sentence to life term imprisonment "if he is found guilty" of crimes against humanity. Prosecution thinks that kind of a submission is equal to confessing guilt, although defence claimed that it was not. Nizami's counsel Khandaker Mahbub Hossain made the appeal to the Appellate Division yesterday, after the apex court concluded hearing the arguments of defence on the appeal filed by the 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 independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. 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... chief challenging the death penalty handed down to him by the war crimes tribunal. During submission, Khandaker Mahbub Hossain said his client had been shown involved with some incidents in Pabna, but there had been no eyewitnesses. Moreover, Nizami had been shown as the chief of al-Badr because he was then the chief of Chhatra Sangha, now known by the name Chhatra Shibir. But the said crimes took place when Nizami was no longer with al-Badr. The counsel also prayed to the apex court to acquit the death row convict of all the charges saying he was not directly involved in any of the crimes. Nizami was a student in 1971 and was therefore not capable of showing Pakistain army the way to go to places where the offences took place, Mahbub argued. "There is no credibility of those depositions and charges," he said. Even then, if the court, believing those witness accounts, found 72-year-old Nizami guilty, then it should commute his death sentence to life considering his age and good behaviour, the defence counsel said. Mahbub and SM Shahjahan, assisted by Shishir Manir, comprised defence while Attorney General Mahbubey Alam stood for the state. After the hearing session, Mahbubey told news hounds: "From their [defence's] submission, it appears that for the first time, the lawyers of a convicted Jamaat leader have confessed to [their client's] crimes committed during the 1971 Liberation War and appealed for only commuting the death sentence. "It is a historical fact that people were killed and the Jamaat leader facilitated those. Motiur Rahman Nizami supported that out of conviction," the chief state lawyer said.

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Bangladesh

Bangladeshi Jamaat leaders facing death for alleged war crimes

2015-04-15

[AA.TR] Mohammad Kamaruzzaman, a leading Bangladeshi politician, became the country's second person hanged for war crimes on Saturday. His execution was preceded by that of fellow 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 independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. 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... leader Abdul Quader Mollah in December 2013 and could soon be followed by more from the same party, all accused of committing war crimes during Bangladesh's war of independence from Pakistain in 1971. Bangladesh's Attorney General Mahbubey Alam was quoted by the local daily Dhaka Tribune on Sunday as saying that several of the appeals for those sentenced to death could be dealt with before the end of 2015. There are currently five Jamaat-e-Islami leaders in jug going through the appeals process to have their death sentences overturned. Two of the most big shots, former party chief Ghulam Azam and AKM Yusuf, both died in jug in 2014. Also sentenced to death but unlikely to face the penalty after being tried in absentia are Mueen Udden, who is in London, and Ashrafuzzaman Khan, in the U.S., who were both linked to the party's student wing in 1971. There are several others found guilty by the war crimes tribunal who no longer have links with Jamaat-e-Islami. According to Imran Siddiqui, a lawyer who represented several of the Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, the next case will target Ali Ahsan Mohammed Mujahid, the party's Secretary General. "Unless the court decides to deal with the cases expeditiously, Mujahid's case will maybe be done before the end of the year," said Siddiqui, adding that the party chief >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... 's appeal was unlikely to come up until the middle of 2016. "These appeals take some time because the documents are (voluminous) in nature and there are lots of witnesses," said Siddiqui. Jamaat-e-Islami have insisted that the war crimes tribunals have been politically motivated and deny that the party was involved in assisting the Mighty Pak Army during the nine-month war which, according to official figures, saw 3 million people killed. Apart from Mujahid and Nizami, those facing the death penalty include the party's Assistant Secretary General ATM Azharul Islam and central executive committee members Mir Quasem Ali and Abdus Subhan. Having only received their sentences in recent months, their appeals may face a long wait as the court will first deal with Mujahid, Nizami and Bangladesh Nationalist Party politician Salauddin Quader Chowdhury. Ali Ahsan Mohammed Mujahid, Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami Ali Ahsan Mohammed Mujahid, the party's Secretary General, will be the next leader to go through the appeals process in order to contest his death sentence. The son of a politician, Mujahid, like many of the accused, was a senior figure in Jamaat-e-Islami's student wing in 1971. He is also one of the few, alongside Nizami, who has served in government. From 2001 to 2006, Mujahid was the social welfare minister in a coalition government with Jamaat-e-Islami's allies the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Mujahid was sentenced to death in 2013, accused of being Nizami's second-in-command in the Al-Badr militia, which allegedly worked closely with the Mighty Pak Army. He was also accused of being involved in the killing of academics. Siddiqui said Mujahid's defense will center on countering specific incidents he was accused of being involved in. "It will argue on the veracity of the witnesses and question the evidence used against him," said Siddiqui, adding that while Mujahid admits that he supported union with Pakistain, he denies any involvement in violence. "He says he was never involved in war crimes in 1971," said Siddiqui. "His role was only political." Motiur Rahman Nizami, Jamaat-e-Islami chief Of the Jamaat-e-Islami leaders currently facing death, Motiur Rahman Nizami, the party's chief, is the most prominent. Nizami was the leader of the party's then-student wing, Islami Chatra Sangha, at the time of the war in 1971. He later became a full Jamaat-e-Islami member, rising through the party's ranks to become Secretary General and then Ameer, the top leadership position, by 2000. He was briefly a member of parliament between 1991 and 1994 and then, between 2001 and 2006, served as the Minister of Agriculture and then the Minister for Industry. The war crimes tribunal accused Nizami of being the chief of the Al-Badr militia, which allegedly closely collaborated with the Mighty Pak Army during the 1971 war. In October 2014, Nizami was found guilty and sentenced to death for eight charges of crimes against humanity, including committing and ordering murders and abductions. He denied however that he had been a member of the Al-Badr forces or had any involvement with the Mighty Pak Army, claiming the charges against him had been fabricated. 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... , leading figure in Jamaat-e-Islami The red-bearded Sayeedi is one of Jamaat-e-Islami's most well-known orators. He initially worked as a religious teacher after the war but later became more involved in politics. In 1996 and 2001, he was succesfully elected as a Jamaat-e-Islami member of Parliament. Sayeedi was one of the first the court ordered to be hanged but he had his death sentence commuted in September 2014 to life imprisonment, to the distress of the Attorney General Mahbubey Alam. Alam was quoted in the Dhaka Tribune as saying ""I feel sad for [Delwar Hossain] Sayeedi's verdict. We hoped that he would be sentenced to death." Sayeedi successfully argued that the case against him had been flawed and contained conflicting witness testimonies. Unlike the others tried for the war crimes tribunal, Sayeedi had no reported connection to politics at the time of the war. According to information presented in court, he was a shopkeeper. The court claimed that given his low economic status, he was enticed to join the militias formed under the Mighty Pak Army and was involved in attacks targeting Hindu communities.

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Bangladesh

Pakistan envoy summoned over minister's comments

2014-11-07

[Dhaka Tribune] The Foreign Ministry summoned the Acting High Commissioner of Pakistain in Dhaka yesterday, to formally convey the government's disappointment over comments made by a Pak minister about the war crimes verdict on 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... Ahmad Hussain Dayo was called to the ministry to be apprised of the government's position on comments made by Pakistain Home Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan ...Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz Uncle Fester Sharif. He is noted for his vocal anti-American railing in the National Assembly. However (comma) Khan told the U.S. ambassador that he was in fact pro-American but he and the PML-N would have to be critical of US actions in order to remain publicly credible. Khan cited his wife and children's US citizenship as proof, which means he's lying to one side or the other and probably both. He wears a wig, but you probably guessed that. since hair doesn't grow naturally in that shape or texture... regarding the International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh verdict, said a Foreign Ministry blurb. Nisar Ali Khan said last week it was highly unfortunate that almost 45 years after that tragic chain of events, the Bangladeshi government still seemed to be living in the past and ignoring the time-tested virtue of forgive and forget. The Pak politician said he believed the government of Bangladesh had misused the process of law as a political tool against the Jamaat leader. Terming the comments unwarranted and inappropriate, the additional foreign secretary (bilateral) said the comments amounted to directly interfering with the internal affairs of Bangladesh, the blurb said. Vested quarters in Pakistain were advised to mind their own business and set their own house in order rather than try to interfere with matters which fall within Bangladesh's domestic jurisdiction. The additional secretary pointed out that the trials enjoyed the support of the people in Bangladesh and of the wider international community to break the culture of impunity for crimes against humanity and genocide committed in 1971. The government of Pakistain was requested to take serious note of all these issues, the blurb said. Noting the holding of demonstrations and provocative statements by 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 independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. 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... in Pakistain, the additional secretary further stated that Bangladesh expects that as a friendly neighbour, Pakistain will refrain from such activities as may hurt the sentiments of the people of Bangladesh. Bangladesh, in December last year, strongly protested a resolution adopted by the Pakistain National Assembly on the death sentence of another Jamaat-e-Islami leader, Abdul Quader Molla. Nizami was sentenced to death on October 29 for committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.

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Bangladesh

Bangla: Nizami sentenced to death for war crimes

2014-10-30

[Xinhua] Bangladesh's largest Islamist party chief 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... was sentenced to death in capital Dhaka Wednesday for war crimes including mass killings. The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 pronounced the verdict Wednesday afternoon on a crime against humanity case, awarding death sentence to the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islmai party's President Nizami, who is now behind the bar. The three-member panel of the ICT-1 read the summary of the 204- page verdict at a jam-packed court room in the presence of a huge crowd of people particularly journalists and lawyers amid tightened security measures in and around the tribunal. The panel explained the 16 charges leveled against the accused 71-year-old Jamaat chief. Nizami was indicted in 2012 with 16 charges of crimes against humanity,including looting, mass killings, arson, rape and forcefully converting people into Moslems during the war. The indictment order, in a brief profile of the accused, said Nizami was a key organizer of the Al-Badr, an auxiliary force of then Mighty Pak Army which planned and executed the killing of Bangalee intellectuals at the end of the Liberation War in 1971. After the verdict, International Crimes Tribunal prosecutor Tureen Afroz told news hounds that "eight charges, including murder against Nizami, were proved beyond a reasonable doubt leading to a death sentence to the leader of Jamaat." Defense lawyer Tajul Islam told journalists that they will file a review petition, challenging the verdict of the ICT. Five top Jamaat leaders have already been punished for their 1971 crimes and Nizami is among three other top leaders now being tried in war crimes tribunals Prime Minister Sheikh Hasian's Bangladesh Awami League-led government in 2010 to bring the perpetrators of 1971 to book. Apart from Jamaat high-ups, a few leaders of ex-Prime Minister the loathesome Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... 's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) are also facing trials. Both BNP and Jamaat have dismissed the court as a government " show trial" and said it is a domestic set-up without the oversight or involvement of the United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... . Moslem-majority Bangladesh was called East Pakistain until 1971. The government of Prime Minister the loathesome Sheikh Hasina ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums.. said about 3 million people were killed in the war although independent researchers believed that between 300,000 and 500,000 died.

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Bangladesh

Natore Jamaat men clash with cops

2014-04-22

[Bangla Daily Star] At least 20 people, including five cops, were maimed as Jamaat-Shibir men clashed with police in Natore district town yesterday morning. As part of their previously announced programme, Jamaat-Shibir yesterday brought out processions in different districts, protesting the government's "conspiracy" to hang 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 independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. 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... Ameer 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... and its Nayeb-e-Ameer 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... on charges of crimes against humanity during the Liberation War. Nahid Hossain, superintendent of NATOre police, said Jamaat-Shibir activists brought out a procession in Harishpur bypass area around 8:30am and tried to enter the district town. Chased by police in front of Sher-e-Bangla High School, they hurled brick chips at the law enforcers and a clash ensued. Police fired bullets and teargas shells to bring the situation under control. Four Jamaat-Shibir men were picked up from the spot, Nahid said. The injured coppers took first aid. Contacted, Atiqul Islam Russel, NATOre town unit Jamaat ameer, claimed police had swooped on the procession without any provocation. Police action left at least 18 activists injured, he added. Meanwhile in the capital, law enforcers detained three Jamaat-Shibir men from Mohakhali. The detainees had been trying to bring out a procession.

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Bangladesh

Jamaat to observe hartal on Thursday

2014-02-06

[Dhaka Tribune] 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 independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. 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... will observe a nationwide dawn-to-dusk hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... for Thursday protesting the death penalty of its chief 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... in one of the 10-truck arms haul cases. Earlier on Friday, Jamaat's acting Secretary General Shafiqur Rahman called the hartal. Later, the party has postponed its Monday's hartal to Thursday because of Akheri Munajat of Bishwa Ijtema and Saraswati Puja. A Chittagong court on Thursday handed down death sentences to 14 people including Jamaat ameer and former industries minister Motiur Rahman Nizami for criminal masterminding the country's largest ever smuggling of weaponries in 2004. He was given life-term in the arms case.

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Bangladesh

It's a plot to kill Nizami Says Jamaat

2014-01-31

[Bangla Daily Star] Aghast at the verdict in the 10-truck arms haul cases, the 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 independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. 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... yesterday said the judgement is part of the "government's conspiracy to eliminate patriotic politicians from the country." The BNP said it will give a reaction on the verdict later, while the ruling Awami League expressed satisfaction over the judgement. Rejecting the verdict, Jamaat acting ameer Maqbul Ahmed in a statement said party Ameer 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... was handed death penalty in "staged managed and false cases as part of the government's plan to kill him." The Jamaat, a key ally of the BNP, vowed to counter the government's conspiracy legally and politically. Talking to The Daily Star, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said he will later give the party's reaction on the verdict after having consultations with BNP Chairperson the loathesome Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... . Now in Thakurgaon, Fakhrul refused to make any immediate comment on the judgement. BNP LEADERS REACT Talking to The Daily Star, BNP Vice-chairman Abdullah Al Noman said it was their government that had hauled the arms cache, filed cases and placed in durance vile Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! many people in connection with the incident. "But the present government has used the cases to harass our leaders and the verdict has been delivered accordingly," he mentioned. BNP chairperson's adviser Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said the government has "politicised" everything, including the judiciary. "Therefore, people have little confidence in the judgment in these sensitive cases," he added. REACTION OF AL With the verdict in the 10-truck arms haul case, rule of law has been established in the country, Law Minister Anisul Huq said yesterday. "After this, one will dread to commit a similar crime in future," he told news hounds at his secretariat office after a Chittagong court pronounced the verdict in the sensational cases. The special court handed death penalties to 14 people, including Jamaat chief and former industries minister Motiur Rahman Nizami and ex-state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, for smuggling firearms. The verdict, said Anisul, reflects the government's pledge to uphold rule of law in the country. Asked whether the previous BNP-Jamaat government deserves credit for the arms haul during its tenure, he said the crime was committed by the top level officials of the then government. "The weapons were enough to set up a mini cantonment," he mentioned. Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury said the verdict has proved that law takes its own course and crime ultimately brings its punishment. "It's a message to international arms syndicates that Bangladesh is not a place to smuggle arms through," she told The Daily Star at her secretariat office. Asked whether the verdict will boost Bangladesh's ties with India further, the minister said the government has done its job. On handing death penalty to 14 accused by the court, Matia, also Awami League presidium member, said the judge has delivered the judgement considering the merit of the cases. The government, she added, did not interference in the court's verdict. The convicts will have the right to appeal against the sentencing in the higher court. BNP-JAMAAT STAGE PROTESTS BNP and Jamaat activists brought out processions in Rajshahi and Netrakona yesterday to protest the verdict in the 10-truck arms haul cases, report our correspondents. In Rajshahi, two photojournalists and three pedestrians received splinter injuries when activists of Islami Chhatra Shibir ... the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh... blasted a cocktail from a procession. BNP of Madan upazila in Netrakona brought out a procession protesting the death penalty to Lutfozzaman Babar. The former state minister for home is from the upazila. Local BNP unit also called a 48-hour hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... in the upazila from this morning protesting the judgement.

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