Mir Quasem Ali has filed a plea seeking review of the Supreme Court verdict that sentenced him to death for committing crimes against humanity in the 1971 Liberation War.
Quasem’s son Mir Ahmed Bin Quasem said they filed the review plea with the office concerned of the Supreme Court on Sunday.
In the plea, the Jamaat-e-Islami key financier sought acquittal from the charges he had been convicted with.
The war crimes tribunal had awarded capital punishment Quasem, now 64, on November 3, 2014. As many as 24 prosecution witnesses testified against Quasem.
The tribunal handed down the death penalty on two charges – for killing seven people, including teenage freedom fighter Jasimuddin, after abduction. He was also awarded a total of 72-year imprisonment on the eight other proven charges of abduction, conspiracy and planning.
Quasem joined Islami Chhatra Sangha, then student wing of Jamaat, in 1967 while studying at Chittagong Collegiate School. He later became its Chittagong city unit general secretary. He played an important role in forming al-Badr Bahini.
He had set up makeshift torture camps at different places in the port city. According to the government, Quasem has also spent a large amount of money abroad to make the war crimes trials controversial.
Later, the Supreme Court upheld the war tribunal’s death sentence.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
