Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem Ali was taken to Dhaka Central Jail from Kashimpur jail in Gazipur this afternoon.
Quasem has been shifted to Dhaka as the International Crimes Tribunal-2 yesterday fixed Sunday for delivering judgment in the war crimes case against him, said Farman Ali, senior jail super at Dhaka Central Jail.
The tribunal has fixed the date, around six months after the conclusion of his trial procedures.
Quasem, considered one of the top financiers of Jamaat, faces 14 charges, including murder committed in the city between November and December 16, 1971. He was allegedly the chief of Chittagong Al-Badr.
Al-Badr was an auxiliary force of Pakistani army. Like other collaborator forces, it too directly opposed the liberation of Bangladesh, and helped the occupying army and directly took part in the torture and killing of Bangalees in 1971.
Motiur Rahman Nizami, Jamaat ameer and the then chief of Al-Badr, on Wednesday was awarded death penalty by the tribunal for his crimes against humanity during the Liberation War.
QUASEM’S TRIAL
The prosecution sought capital punishment for Mir Quasem, a member of Jamaat’s central executive council, claiming that they had been able to prove 12 out of 14 charges. Like always, the defence sought his acquittal saying the prosecution couldn’t prove any charges.
If convicted, the 62-year-old may face the capital punishment. Six top Jamaat leaders have already been sentenced for their 1971 crimes and two other top notches — Abdus Subhan and ATM Azharul Islam — are being tried in the war crimes tribunals.
On May 4, the Tribunal-2 concluded hearing the closing arguments in Quasem’s case and kept the case awaiting verdict.
Fixing the verdict date yesterday, Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah asked the tribunal registrar to issue a warrant so that the jail authority produces Quasem before the court by 10:00am on Sunday.
Another member of the tribunal Justice Md Shahinur Islam was present during the announcement. Tribunal Chairman Justice Obaidul Hassan was on leave.
According to the prosecution, Quasem, president of Jamaat’s then student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha’s (ICS’s) Chittagong town unit, colluded with the Pakistan army, Jamaat, and other anti-liberation forces and formed Al-Badr force there in 1971.
Several Al-Badr camps were set up in Chittagong under Quasem’s leadership for torturing and killing pro-liberation people. Quasem also had links with the Pak army and was directly involved in crimes like abduction, torture and murder in 1971, the prosecution said.
The prosecution produced 24 witnesses, mostly victims, and documents to prove the charges. It, however, could not produce any witness in support of two charges.
Quasem’s counsels said their client was indeed involved in the ICS in 1971 but he had nothing to do with Al-Badr or any torture camp. The defence produced three witnesses to prove their claim.
Mir Quasem was born to Mir Tayeb Ali and Rabeya Begum in Munsidangi Sutalori of Manikganj on December 31, 1952. He joined the ICS in 1967 when he was studying at Chittagong Collegiate School. Later, he became the president of Chittagong town unit ICS and on November 6, 1971, he became the general secretary of East Pakistan unit of the student body, according to prosecution documents.
When the ICS re-emerged as Islami Chhatra Shibir in 1977, he became its president and joined Jamaat as an activist in 1980. He now is a member of Jamaat’s central executive council, the highest policy-making body of the Islamist party.
According to a defence petition filed on July 19, 2013, Quasem is the chairman of real estate company Keari Ltd and director of Diganta Media Corporation Ltd. He used to be a member secretary of Islami Bank Foundation and holds management positions in many other business ventures and organisations.
Quasem was arrested on June 17, 2012. The Tribunal-1 on May 26 took into cognisance the charges pressed by the prosecution and indicted him on 14 charges on September 5, 2013. On September 30, the case was transferred to the Tribunal-2.
The 14 charges framed against him were in connection with the killing of three named and several unnamed people and abduction, confinement and torture of at least 27 people in different incidents in Chittagong.
Source: Thre Daily Star
