War crimes tribunal summons key suspect

Dhaka: A special Bangladeshi tribunal yesterday took cognisance of charges relating to crimes against humanity against Gulam Azam, described as a ‘key collaborator' of the then Pakistani junta during the 1971 liberation war and ordered his appearance to face trial.

"He [Azam] is ordered to appear before the tribunal [International Crimes Tribunal] on January 11," said the chairman of the three-member tribunal, Justice Nizamul Haque.

Court officials and lawyers said Azam is expected to be indicted tomorrow. Azam was a provincial minister under the then Pakistani junta and chief of the erstwhile East Pakistan wing of the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), which opposed Bangladesh's 1971 independence.

Simultaneous move

In a simultaneous development, the tribunal formally indicted incumbent JI chief, Matiur Rahman Nizami taking note of ‘element of offences' committed by him during the war.

The prosecution on December 11 last year submitted 15 charges relating to crimes against humanity against Nizami, who is already in jail.

Nizami was allegedly a top leader of the notorious Al Badr militia group accused of the massacre of a number of leading intellectuals just ahead of the country's declaration of independence on December 16, 1971.

The prosecution earlier brought 52 charges of war crimes against Azam, insisting he had a role in the Pakistani troops' notorious ‘Operation Searchlight' of March 25, 1971, when they targeted unarmed civilians.