That trial was not of international standard, this one is: Jamaat

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has expressed satisfaction with the death sentence handed down to Sheikh Hasina for crimes against humanity.

The party said that this trial met international standards, whereas the trials of Jamaat leaders during the Awami League tenure did not.

Jamaat’s secretary general Mia Golam Porwar said this at an afternoon press briefing at the party’s central office in Dhaka today, Monday, hours after the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) delivered its verdict against Sheikh Hasina.

Calling on the Indian government to return convicted Sheikh Hasina, the Jamaat secretary said that by refusing to do so, New Delhi had taken a stance contrary to the principles of justice.

Speaking about the verdict, Golam Porwar said, “The trial has been transparent, impartial, and of international standard. Through this verdict, the expectations of Bangladesh’s 180 million people have been fulfilled. The nation has received justice. The autocratic Sheikh Hasina regime killed more than 1,400 people and grievously injured nearly 40,000. Many of them have been permanently disabled, and countless students and civilians have lost their eyesight or limbs. They had long been awaiting justice. Today, that expectation has finally been met.”

Golam Porwar expressed hope that the other crimes, such as the Shapla Chattar killings, enforced disappearances, and killings in crossfire, would also be tried swiftly.

During the Awami League government, Sheikh Hasina established an international tribunal to prosecute crimes against humanity committed in 1971. Following the July Uprising, the interim government reconstituted that tribunal. It was this reconstituted tribunal that today delivered the first verdict on crimes against humanity committed during the July uprising.

The verdict sentenced deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her home minister Asaduzzaman Khan to death. It also handed a five-year prison sentence to former police chief (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun.

Although Jamaat had long questioned the death sentences against its senior leaders, Golam Porwar said of today’s ruling, “This verdict will stand as a landmark in Bangladesh’s judicial and political history, as this is the first time a head of government has received the maximum penalty. It has been proven through this verdict that no powerful figure within the government or the state stands above the law.”

Speaking on the trials of Jamaat leaders under the Awami League government, Golam Porwar said, “The party’s senior leaders were executed on the basis of fabricated cases, politically influenced witnesses, and manufactured testimonies. Those trials were neither free, fair, impartial, nor of international standard; they were questioned both at home and abroad. Witnesses were abducted from the court premises, and our leaders were put to death through the Skype scandal and verdicts written from abroad. They will never return, and that is the most painful truth.”

Addressing reports of crude bomb explosions and arson attacks following today’s verdict, the Jamaat secretary general said, “Armed cadres of the Awami League, whose activities have been banned, have declared a shutdown and are attempting to create chaos nationwide through bomb attacks and arson. But they have been unable to gain ground anywhere due to fierce public resistance. The fascist Awami League has no moral right to engage in politics in this country.”

Present at the press briefing were Jamaat’s assistant secretary generals ATM Masum, Hamidur Rahman Azad, and Abdul Halim; central executive council member Mobarak Hossain; and Dhaka north city ameer Muhammad Selim Uddin.

The briefing was conducted by the party’s central publicity and media wing chief Ehsanul Mahbub Jubayer.