Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon says he is disappointed with the war crime tribunal’s verdict for former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Ghulam Azam.
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday in presence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Menon said people were questioning Azam ‘s 90 years in jail verdict considering his age when he deserved maximum punishment.
He asked the government to appeal against the verdict. “All is well that ends well. But we’ve hit an obstacle here. The public has questions.”
The BNP-led opposition was absent from Parliament on Tuesday while a Jamaat-enforced shutdown was underway. They were also not present on Monday when the ICT-1 announced the verdict.
Menon, whose party is part of the ruling Grand Alliance, took the floor at the very start and spoke about the Azam verdict.
“We are being humane towards the person who orchestrated so many crimes against humanity,” he observed. “His punishment has been reduced to 90 years because of his age. I’ve never heard of something like this before.”
He went on to say that although the war criminals of 1971 did not take age into account before killing children and so many others, the tribunal took it into consideration for the war criminals.
“The government said they are satisfied with the verdict. We have expressed our disappointment,” said Menon. “We know the war crimes tribunal has been formed under the leadership of our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
“The decision to try the war criminals was taken from this Parliament. I hope the government will appeal against this verdict.”
Azam was found guilty of all five categories of crime — conspiracy, planning, incitement, abetment and failure to prevent murder during the Liberation War or 1971.
Source: Bd news24
