The prosecution on Sunday began its case summing-up arguments before the International Crimes Tribunal-2 with oral and documentary evidence to prove the war crimes charges made against Mir Quasem Ali, Chittagong district head of Al Badr in 1971.
Prosecutors Zead Al Malum and Sultan Mahmud Simon jointly submitted their arguments in part referring to the charges especially abduction, confinement, torture and killing during the 1971 Liberation War as allegedly perpetrated by accused Mir Quasem Ali as commander of villainous Al Badr.
During their arguments, the three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Obaidul Hassan, interrupted them repeatedly as their submissions over the charges against the accused appeared ‘not tangible’.
On September 5, 2013, the tribunal indicted Quasem Ali, now a Jamaat-e-Islami policymaker, for his involvement in crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.
On May 26, 2013, the tribunal took cognisance of the charges made against Quasem Ali, also chairman of private television channel Diganta (operation now suspended) as it found a strong prima facie case against the accused under subsections 3(2), 4(1) and 4(2) of the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973.
Quasem Ali faces 14 counts of charges of crimes against humanity during the Liberation War.
The charge ‘extortion’ has been included for the first time by the prosecution marking it as a crime against humanity under subsection 3 (2) (a) of the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973.
According to the prosecution, Quasem Ali, also a 1971 front-ranking leader of Islami Chhatra Sangha (ICS), had perpetrated various crimes against humanity like killing, looting, abduction, persecution, genocide, rape, extortion, and setting fire to the houses of unarmed civilians during the Liberation War in collaboration with Pakistan occupation army.
The war crimes accused had also set up makeshift torture camps at different places in the port city of Chittagong where freedom-loving people were handed down punishment.
On June 17 last year, plainclothes police arrested Jamaat leader Quasem Ali from the office of the vernacular daily Nayadiganta in the capital hours after the tribunal issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of his alleged crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.
Source: UNBConnect
