2 Moulvibazar war criminals get death

A special tribunal in Dhaka today handed death penalty to two Razakars from Moulvibazar and jail until death to three others for committing crimes during the Liberation War in 1971.

The condemned are Ujer Ahmed Chowdhury, 63, and Nesar Ali, 75, while Yunus Ahmed, 71, Samsul Hossain Tarafder, 65, and Mobarak Mia, 66, were awarded imprisonment until death.

Of them, Yunus and Ujer are in jail while the rest are on the run.

The three-member tribunal led by Justice Md Shahinur Islam pronounced the verdict. It said the condemned will have to be executed by hanging.

Meanwhile, the tribunal also directed the secretary of home affairs and inspector general of police (IGP) to take steps to arrest the three fugitives convicted of war crimes.

Prosecution team of the International Crimes Tribunal briefing journalists after the verdict on January 10, 2017. Photo: Tuhin Shubhra Adhikary

The prosecutors pressed five charges against the accused on May 26 last year. The charges include abducting, torturing and killing one Danu Mia; looting and torching three houses; confining three people; abducting, confining and torturing another three and looting and torching houses of one Harendra Bhattacharya between November 22 and December 5.

The remaining charges are abducting and torturing four people and killing two between November 29 and December 8; and an act of genocide through killing 14 Hindus on December 29.

The case proceedings ended on November 20 last year after the prosecution and defence completed their closing arguments.