Charges against Quasem accepted

DHAKA, May 26: A tribunal in Dhaka on Sunday accepted the charges against Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem Ali for his crimes against humanity committed during the country’s Liberation War in 1971.

International Crimes Tribunal-1 led by its Chairman Justice ATM Fazle Kabir fixed June 27 for starting hearing on charge framing against the Jamaat leader.

The prosecution brought 14 charges against Quasem, which include the killing of eight Bangalees and torture of at least 27 people in Chittagong.

According to the prosecution, Quasem was an influential commander of infamous Al-Badr, a group which assisted then Pakistani occupation army and took part in killing scores of Bangladeshis in 1971.

Al-Badr, widely known for planned intellectual killing at the fag end of the war, was made up of Islami Chhatra Sangha, the then student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami.

Quasem was general secretary of Chhatra Sangha.

Among the 14 charges, two charges were pressed for the killing of eight people. The remaining charges were for torture, arson, looting and abduction between November and December 16, 1971.

The investigation agency began its probe into the alleged war crimes of Quasem on July 26, 2010, and submitted its report to the prosecution on May 6.

CHARGES IN BRIEF

Charges 1-10 and 13 and 14 were brought against Quasem in connection with abduction, torture and detaining of 27 people in Chittagong and setting fire to homes and shops.

Charge-11 read: One Jasim along with five unidentified people was abducted some time after Eid-ul-Fitr of 1971. They were detained and tortured at Dalim Hotel at Andorkilla and later killed.

According to charge-12, Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, Ranjit Das Prokash Latu and Tuntu Sen were kidnapped sometime in November, 1971. Latu and Tuntu were later killed and their bodies were never found.