Interim govt protects Jamaat’s interests: Ganatantrik Odhikar Committee

The Ganatantrik Odhikar Committee has raised the question of how a known war criminal could be declared innocent.

It stated that the way the Awami League government initiated a flawed war crimes trial process to serve its narrow party interests, the interim government is now protecting Jamaat’s interests in the same spirit.

The Ganatantrik Odhikar Committee said this in a statement issued today, Friday, in response to the acquittal of former acting secretary general of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, ATM Azharul Islam, from his death sentence in the case filed on charges of committing crimes against humanity in 1971.

The statement was issued on behalf of committee members including Professor Anu Muhammad, Haroon Ur Rashid, Seema Dutta, Samina Luthfa, Abdullah Al Kafi, Fakhruddin Kabir Atik, Maha Mirza, Afzal Hossain, and Marzia Prova.

“In an Appellate Division review hearing, ATM Azhar, a known war criminal and Jamaat leader sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal, was declared innocent and acquitted of all charges unconditionally. The adviser to the law ministry dubbed this verdict as just. We want to say that exonerating a known war criminal by declaring him completely innocent is not justice; rather this serves as an example of political influence over the judiciary,” the statement said.

Mentioning that ATM Azhar was Islami Chhatra Sangha’s Rangpur district committee chief and the leader of the Al-Badr force during the liberation war in 1971, the Ganatantrik Odhikar Committee said Azhar, along with Jamaat, Al-Badr, and Islami Chhatra Sangha, stood with Pakistan in the war and was involved in genocide, rape, and crimes against humanity. The historical evidence of Jamaat’s role in the genocide shows that Azhar, due to his organisational position, was a complicit. However, from the start, the International Crimes Tribunal did not follow the fundamental principles of trying genocide, choosing instead to prosecute individuals rather than the organisations like Jamaat, Al-Badr, Al-Shams, and Chhatra Shibir.

Claiming that global standards for prosecuting genocide were not followed, the committee added, “What is surprising is that although the interim government admitted the flaws in the tribunal’s proceedings, it still pursued an appeal review within the same flawed process. We assert that just as the Awami League government launched this flawed trial process to serve its narrow political interests, the interim government is now continuing that legacy by preserving Jamaat’s interests.”

The statement further claimed that the interim government structured the ICT in such a way that several prosecutors, including the chief prosecutor, had previously served as defence lawyers for war crimes accused. This created a conflict of interest that influenced the verdict.

Additionally, the current state lawyers refused to take responsibility for the previous prosecution’s failures, which not only constituted professional misconduct but also weakened the entire judicial process. The current prosecution had a duty to correct past mistakes and defend the state.

In such a circumstance, declaring the accused innocent and acquitting him unconditionally of charges is a mockery in the name of justice.

The committee remarked that the July mass uprising had generated hopes for democracy, justice, and an independent judiciary, but the acquittal of Jamaat leader Azhar goes against those hopes and effectively ensures that the July massacre will not be prosecuted.

Referring to the brutal attack by Islami Chhatra Shibir, Jamaat’s student wing, on students protesting the verdict under the banner of the Ganatantrik Chhatra Jote (Democratic Students Alliance), the committee noted that several students were seriously injured.

They also said Shibir is now repeating the pattern of attacks that the Bangladesh Chhatra League carried out against student protests over the past 15 years. Female students were specifically targeted, and in Sylhet, a female student was repeatedly threatened by Shibir members for speaking out.

This pattern of behaviour proves Chhatra Shibir, raised under the patronage of the Chhatra League for 15 years, is now carrying the same fascist ideology and behaviour of the Awami League, it added.

The Ganatantrik Odhikar Committee demanded an immediate correction and restructuring of the flawed International Crimes Tribunal complying with the fundamental principles of genocide prosecution, to enable trials of both Jamaat and Awami League for their roles in the genocide.

It also called for the identification and prosecution of Chhatra Shibir members involved in attacks on peaceful demonstrations.