Bangladesh's Supreme Court on Tuesday acquitted a senior Jamaat-e-Islami leader, overturning his death sentence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in a war crimes case related to the 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan.
ATM Azharul Islam was acquitted by the Appellate Division of the top court.
"The full seven-member bench chaired by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, delivered the verdict, ordering acquittal of Mr ATM Azharul Islam," a state counsel said.
He said the court also directed the prison authorities to release Islam from jail immediately if he was not arrested in other cases.
There was no higher court in Bangladesh or any international forum to reverse the top court verdict, the counsel added.
According to state and defence counsels, the top court observed that the death sentence was handed down without any proper assessment of evidence, leading to an "unjust verdict".
The 73-year-old leader of the Islamic party, which was opposed to Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971, was arrested over charges of committing crimes against humanity during the War.
Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal sentenced him to death for multiple charges, including genocide, murder, and rape.
The Appellate Division upheld the verdict after an appeal hearing on October 23, 2019, prompting Islam to file a petition seeking to review the judgment before the same court on July 19, 2020, presenting 14 legal arguments.
Professor Muhammad Yunus's interim government Law Adviser Asif Nazrul welcomed the acquittal calling it the outcome of last year's student-led movement that ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League regime on August 5.
"The credit for creating the scope for establishing this justice goes to the July-August mass movement leadership," Nazrul said in a social media post.
However, hours after the announcement, left-leaning students at the premier Dhaka University (DU) and northwestern Rajshahi University (DU) took to the streets.
Several left-leaning student groups at DU staged a protest march against the acquittal, accusing the interim government of facilitating Islam's exoneration.
"We condemn the interim administration's attempt to rewrite history after 54 years with such assertions," Bangladesh Students' Union General Secretary Shimul Kumbhakar told the rally.
Kumbhakar added: "If the interim government continues releasing Razakars and Al-Badr members (armed collaborators of Pakistani Army in 1971) and fully absolving them of their crimes, it (interim government) will face the same downfall as the fascist (deposed premier) Hasina's regime." Revolutionary Student Unity General Secretary Jabir Ahmed Jubel said, "We witnessed someone who was sentenced to death on three separate counts now being cleared of all charges".
According to media reports and witnesses, violence sparked in the RU campus as left-leaning student groups brought out a torch march. It was confronted by activists of Islamic Chhatra Shibir-- said to be the student front of Jamaat.
Democratic Student Alliance, a grouping of left-leaning organisations in RU alleged that around 200 Shibir activists attacked their torch march, wounding over a dozen of their supporters on the campus, known to be a Shibir stronghold.
Shibir too claimed that some of their activists were injured in the attack.
In 2009, Bangladesh initiated a legal process to try key collaborators of Pakistani forces in 1971 on charges of crimes against humanity. Following trials, six top Jamaat-e-Islami leaders and one senior figure from former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party were executed after the Supreme Court's Appellate Division upheld their convictions.
Hasina and several members of her cabinet and party are being exposed to trial in the same tribunal—originally established to prosecute 1971 war crimes—on similar charges of crimes against humanity for their alleged actions during last year's crackdown on the uprising.
Islam's lawyer Shishir Monir said he was "fortunate" because the five other senior political leaders had already been hanged while he "got justice since he is alive".
Jamaat-e-Islami had never revisited its role since 1971, but in a rare and unexpected move, its incumbent chief Shafiqur Rahman on Tuesday offered an apology "to anyone who might be hurt by the party at any time." Addressing a press conference in Dhaka, Rahman said Jamaat activists were humans "after all" and "to err is human".
"As a party, we do not claim to be above mistakes. If any (of our) party activists, party workers or the party itself has caused harm or hurt anyone, anywhere, we unconditionally apologise. Please forgive us," he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
