Detained war crimes suspect AKM Yusuf, nayeb-e-ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami and founder of notorious Razakar outfit during the Liberation War, remains in jail, as the International Crimes Tribunal-1 turned down his bail plea on Tuesday.
“Considering the gravity of the crimes against humanity, including genocide, allegedly perpetrated by the accused during the Liberation War, the prayer for bail is rejected,” said the tribunal.
Earlier, the octogenarian accused had prayed for his bail, especially on health ground, as he has been suffering from geriatric complications.
Passing the order, the three-member tribunal, headed by Justice ATM Fazle Kabir, however, asked the jail authorities to ensure proper medical treatment of the accused as and when necessary.
Besides, the tribunal set June 6 for hearing on charge framing and asked the prosecution to submit a list of witnesses intended to be produced along with the recorded statements of such witness or copies of documents which the prosecution intends to reply upon in support of such charges.
Yusuf, now 87, the second man in the hierarchy of Jamaat leadership, was arrested from his Dhanmondi residence on May 12, hours after the tribunal issued a warrant for his arrest after taking cognisance of his offence of the 1971 war crimes submitted by the prosecution.
The Jamaat leader faces 15 counts of charges, including genocide, killing, loot, arson, deportation of people and religious conversion.
The charges fall under 3(2), 4 (1) and 4 (2) of the updated International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973.
According to the prosecution, Yusuf, a member of the Malek Cabinet, a rubberstamp government backed by the Pakistan junta, had formed for the first time in Khulna in 1971 the vigilante group Razakar, derived from the members of Jamaat-e-Islami that acted as an auxiliary force of the Pakistan occupation army to actively thwart the Bangladesh liberation forces.
Source: UNB Connect
