Jamaat leader ATM Azharul Islam walks out of jail

Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam, who was acquitted by the Appellate Division from a death sentence in a case filed for crimes against humanity, has been released from jail.

According to Dhaka Central Jail’s jailer AKM Masum, the Jamaat leader walked free at 9:05 am on Wednesday, after verification of the release order and other relevant documents.

Azharul was warmly received by party leaders and activists at the jail gate, marking the end of nearly 13 years in prison.

This is the first exoneration of a person convicted of crimes against humanity through a review petition since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government on 5 August last year.

On Tuesday, a seven-member full bench of the Appellate Division, headed by chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, delivered the verdict in Azharul’s favour after hearing his second appeal.

Earlier, on 22 April, the court had stayed the hearing of his review petition until 6 May.

ATM Azharul Islam was arrested on 22 August 2012, from his Moghbazar residence in Dhaka on charges of war crimes. Since then, he had been in custody.

He faced nine charges of crimes against humanity, including the killing of 1,256 people, the abduction of 17 individuals, and the rape of 13 women during the 1971 Liberation War in the Rangpur region.

He was also accused of torturing civilians, setting fire to hundreds of homes, and committing other atrocities.

The International Crimes Tribunal sentenced him to death on 30 December 2014, in five of the nine charges.

Azharul filed a petition with the Appellate Division on 28 January 2015, maintaining his innocence. Later, on 19 July 2020, he submitted a review petition.

Following the appeal hearing, a bench led by then-chief justice Syed Mahmud Hossain upheld the death penalty in a verdict delivered on 23 October 2019.

The full text of that verdict was released on 15 March 2020, after which ATM Azharul Islam filed his final review petition.