May 3
IRELAND:
1916 court martials and executions: Sean MacDiarmada----Proclamation likely a
factor in death sentence
Sean MacDiarmada's court martial was one of the lengthiest of those carried out
involving the leaders of the Rising.
In addition to the charge of staging an armed rebellion with the intention of
assisting the enemy, MacDiarmada faced an additional charge of causing
"disaffection among the civilian population of His Majesty".
He was found guilty of the former charge, but not guilty of the latter.
His court martial took place on May 9th, 1916, and was presided over by Lieut
Col Douglas Sapte assisted by Lieut Col Philip Bent and Maj Francis Woodward.
More time was taken over MacDiarmada's trial presumably because of pressure on
Gen John Maxwell from London to ensure that proper procedure was followed.
The 1st witness for the prosecution was Det Constable Daniel Hoey of the Dublin
Metropolitan Police, who was later assassinated by Michael Collins's "squad"
during the War of Independence.
Hoey said he had observed John McDermott (as he was known to the police) for 3
1/2 years and saw him associate with the leaders of the Irish Volunteers
including Thomas Clarke, Patrick Pearse and Joseph Mary Plunkett.
Hoey said the Irish Volunteer newspaper was MacDiarmada's chief source of
income. A copy of the newspaper was produced as evidence.
Second Lieut WH Ruxton of the 3rd Royal Irish Rifles said he encountered
MacDiarmada on the last day of the Rising when they were gathering surrendered
rebels at the top of Parnell Street.
MacDiarmada, who was struck down by polio in 1911 and lost the use of one leg,
told him that he could not walk to custody. Ruxton continued: "One of the
others told me his leg was paralysed. I asked the accused, 'how did you get
into this affair?' The accused replied to the effect that he had his place in
the organisation."
It would appear from MacDiarmada's file that the court martial members wished
to establish that the man known to the authorities as John McDermott was
actually Sean MacDiarmada.
Edward Gannon, a clerk at Mountjoy Jail, recounted that the accused had spent
time there in June 1915 and had signed his name Sean MacDiarmada.
The bottom half of the Proclamation with MacDiarmada's signature also appears
in his court martial file, but there is no account of the sequence of events
that led it to it being produced as evidence.
Maxwell was under a lot of political pressure to stay the executions so the
production of the Proclamation as evidence may have been significant in his
decision to approve the death penalty for MacDiarmada and Connolly.
Also there is a note written by MacDiarmada on Easter Monday which was produced
in evidence. It states: "I want all you men to report to me at Liberty Hall by
11am, today Monday with full equipment - Sean MacDiarmada."
He was the penultimate leader of the rebellion to be executed. He was shot by
firing squad on May 12th just before James Connolly's execution. In his last
letter he wrote to his brothers and sisters, "I die that Ireland might live."
**********
1916 courts martial and executions: Willie Pearse----Was he executed because of
his name?
Willie Pearse, the brother of Patrick, was the only one of those who were
executed to have pleaded guilty at his court martial.
Willie Pearse was tried on May 3rd, 1916, the same day his brother was
executed.
The court martial members were Brig Gen Ernest Maconchy, Lieut Coll Arthur Bent
and Maj Francis Willoughby Woodward.
3 other volunteers, John Dougherty, John McGarry and JJ Walsh, were tried with
Willie Pearse and each received the death penalty, but their sentences were
commuted, Dougherty and Walsh to 10 years' penal servitude; McGarry to 8 years.
Evidence against them was given by Lieut SL King, of the 12th Royal
Inniskilling Fusiliers who was taken prisoner by the rebels outside Clerys and
held in the GPO for the week.
King claimed Dougherty pointed a rifle at him and told him that he would shoot
him if he did not put his hands up. Dougherty denied the claim.
McGarry protested that he had "no intention of assisting the enemy. I had no
position or rank of any sort".
Walsh went further, stating that he was only a private in the volunteers, was
completely immersed in his business and never fired a shot in the GPO. Instead
he claimed to have been on "water and sand duty" in the event of fire.
King reported seeing Willie Pearse and surmised that he was an officer, but did
not know his rank.
Though Willie Pearse pleaded guilty, he denied any involvement in the planning
of the Rising. "I had no authority or say in the arrangements for the starting
of the rebellion. I was throughout only a personal attache to my brother PH
Pearse. I had no direct command."
Many historians believe that Willie Pearse was only executed because he was
Patrick Pearse's brother. His execution took place on May 4th, the day after
his brother.
(source for both: The Irish Times)
INDONESIA:
Indonesia sets up firing squads for new executions that could include Lindsay
Sandiford
Indonesian police have set up "several" firing squads ready for deployment to a
notorious prison island as the country finalises preparations for a fresh wave
of executions of drug smugglers.
2 British death row inmates, including grandmother Lindsay Sandiford, could be
among the next batch of prisoners tied to a stake and executed.
Commander Aloys Darmanto, the Central Java police spokesman, said on Tuesday
that the provincial mobile brigade unit has established several firing squads
to be sent when needed to Nusakambangan prison island.
A larger execution ground is also reported to have been prepared as Indonesia
is expected to press ahead "within weeks" with putting drug traffickers to
death, after a 1-year hiatus.
"Everyone is ready, including prison officials," he told the Jakarta Globe.
It was on Nusakambangan last April that 14 convicts were executed, including 2
Australians, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who were leaders of the Bali 9
drug trafficking ring.
"All firing squads from the mobile brigade unit are preparing themselves for
the execution," Cdr Aloys said. "We are just waiting for further instructions
from the Attorney General."
He refused to reveal how many firing squad members have been trained as that
might indicate how many inmates will be executed.
"1 team will consist of 7 to 8 shooters," the officer said. "The number will be
adjusted later."
Muhammad Prasetyo, the attorney general, said in April that the next round of
executions would be carried out "soon" and that the inmates would include some
foreigners currently on death row. Executions could be implemented any time
from June, diplomats believe.
Sandiford, a grandmother from Cheltenham caught trying to smuggle cocaine into
Bali in 2013, is the most high profile foreigner on death row.
A fellow Briton, Gareth Cashmore, 36, was sentenced to death in 2012, a year
after he was initially given a punishment of life imprisonment when crystal
meth was found in his luggage.
Joko Widodo, the president, ordered the re-implementation of the death penalty
after he was elected in 2014, saying that the "war on drugs" was a national
priority.
Mr Widodo recently toured Europe, including a two-day stop in London for
meetings with David Cameron focused on lucrative trade deals. Mr Cameron raised
Sandiford's fate when he visited Jakarta last year, but it was not clear
whether he mentioned the cases of the Britons at their latest meeting.
The Indonesian leader seems certain not be influenced by public international
condemnation after forging ahead with last year's executions despite outrage in
Australia.
On the German leg of his European tour, he described drug trafficking as
"national emergency" after Chancellor Angela Merkel talked of her country's
opposition to capital punishment.
The Diplomat, a regional news website, reported that Luhut Pandjaitan, the
country's security chief, wants to ensure the next round of executions are
completed with less "commotion" than last year.
(source: telegraph.co.uk)
SINGAPORE:
Singapore's 'Jolly Hangman' About to Strike----Changing laws send murderer on
torturous trip through justice system
On Feb. 17, 2008, a 24-year-old Sarawakian migrant working in a rag and bone
company in Singapore was drinking an apparently potent substance called
"Narcissus Ginseng Wine Tonic" with 4 friends when they got the idea to rob
someone. After they split up and 3 of them went their separate way, Jabing and
his friend, Galing Anak Kujat, also from Sarawak, went after 2 Chinese workers
whom they assaulted for the cellphone of one, named Cao Ruyin.
Jabing sneaked up in back of Cao and brained him with a tree branch. The victim
sustained 14 skull fractures and a brain injury and died 6 days later. Jabing
sold the cellphone for S$300 and the 5 split the money, with the extra S$50
going for wine.
The celebration didn't last long. Jabing and Galing were arrested 6 days after
the crime. In 2010, a high court sentenced the pair to death by hanging under
what was then Singapore's mandatory statute. But the intervening 6 years
illustrate the changing nature of Singapore's death penalty laws, in the
meantime subjecting Jabing to a distressing trip through the justice system,
which now is likely to kill him despite having previously vacated and otherwise
delayed his death sentence.
24 Hours from Death
Jabing was 24 hours from being hanged in November last year when his lawyers
saved him with a stay of execution, if temporarily. He and his allies,
including many of the world's human rights organizations, are now hoping
against hope that a clemency petition to President Tony Tam will save him. Tam,
however, has already rejected clemency despite widespread appeals attempting to
get him to reverse his decision. Sources in Singapore say that is probably
unlikely.
The case has attracted the attention of a wide range of representatives of
other countries and human rights organizations including the United Nations
Human Rights Office for Southeast Asia, which issued a statement in April after
Jabing's sentence was most recently upheld by the Court of Appeal.
"We are gravely concerned that Mr. Kho is at imminent risk of hanging as the
court has lifted the stay of execution," said Laurent Meillan, OHCHR's acting
regional representative in Bangkok, in a prepared statement. "We are also
concerned that he has been forced to endure years of immense suffering as his
sentence has been changed on a number of occasions."
Phil Robertson, Deputy Director of the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch,
called Singapore's decision to defend the death penalty "a further indication
of complete disregard for international human rights standards."
Death Penalty Stance Changes
Whatever happens to Jabing, over the past 2 decades Singapore's approach to
capital murder has changed markedly. In the mid-1990s, the country had the
world's second-highest execution rate, estimated by the United Nations at 12.83
executions per million people. The highest was Turkmenistan, which has since
abolished the death penalty.
Singapore has undergone a revolution of sorts. With an unofficial ban in place,
it didn't execute anyone between 2011 and 2013 although executions resumed in
2014 with 2 and in 2015 with 4. Jabing is the 1st to face the gallows in 2016
although there are believed to be about 30 individuals on death row. Singapore
doesn't print figures and its executions are not publicized. Normally the
family receives a letter a week before the execution, scheduled quietly and
with only the letter for advance notice.
The justice system received a good deal of unwelcome notice in 2010, when a
British author named Alan Shadrake wrote a book, Once a Jolly Hangman, that
charged the Singapore judiciary system with an appetite for hangings of the
poor and the young for murder, drug trafficking and firearms offences, but
allowing high-ranking criminals, wealthy foreigners and well-connected drug
lords to escape.
Shadrake made the mistake of flying back into Singapore for the book launch and
was promptly arrested and charged with 14 counts of contempt of court. He ended
up spending 6 weeks in a Singapore prison.
Bell Tolls for Murderers
Jabing and Galing were sentenced in July of 2010. At that time, conviction for
murder earned a mandatory death sentence. Both appealed, with Galing's lawyers
arguing that Jabing had led the way against Galing's wishes, but that he had
gone along with the crime. His conviction was downgraded to "robbery with
hurt," as the statutes call it, in May of 2011. Galing ended up receiving 18.6
years in prison and 19 strokes of the cane.
In 2012, as Singaporean attitudes began to change - although 95 % of the
general public approve of the death penalty - with the parliament amending the
penal code to allow for limited discretion in capital cases, permitting judges
to hand down life sentences with caning should circumstances warrant. All death
row inmates were allowed to have their death sentences reviewed by a High Court
Judge.
In November 2013, Jabing's lawyers appeared before Justice Tay Yong Kwang to
argue that the Narcissus Ginseng Wine Tonic, which had been classified by the
Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore as containing excessive levels
of methanol in 2009 could have poisoned him to the point where it affected his
mental state.
Although Tay rejected the submission since it hadn't been raised at either the
trial or the 2011 appeal, the judge downgraded Jabing's sentence to life
imprisonment and partly because of his age and partly because the branch he
picked up to brain Cao was lying on the pavement nearby and that the attack was
"opportunistic and improvisational and not part of a prearranged plan.
Jabing's celebration of deliverance - although 24 strokes of the cane is itself
a barbaric form of punishment - didn't last long. The prosecution appealed. On
Jan. 14, 2015, 3 of 5 judges in the Court of Appeal again sentenced Jabing to
death. 2 of the 5 dissented, saying the condemned man had been on death row for
6 years and that he had earlier been given a life sentence with caning.
"We urge Your Excellency to be merciful and to commute the death sentence of
Kho Jabing to one of life," said a letter requesting clemency signed by 14
Singaporean citizens. "Our judicial system is the best in the world. We cannot
and should not allow this case to tarnish this image. To us, it is a clear case
of bias because the judgement of the majority reveals this when the majority
judges refused to review findings of fact made in the CA (Conviction)
decision."
There are no more legal avenues open. "Jabing's only hope is for the Singapore
cabinet to advise the President to grant him clemency," the 14 Singaporeans
wrote in their appeal for clemency. "It is a long shot, but Jabing's family are
ready to try. And as long as they are willing to keep fighting, we will
continue to support and help them however we can."
(source: asiasentinel.com)
BANGLADESH:
4 Pakistan collaborators of Kishoreganj to hang, another gets prison until
death
A war crimes tribunal has handed down death sentence to four Razakars of
Kishoreganj and prison until death to another.
These 5 were found responsible for abductions, torture and killings to help
Pakistan to abort Bangladesh's birth in 1971.
The 3-member International Crimes Tribunal headed by Justice Anwarul Haque
delivered the verdict in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Only Kishoreganj lawyer Shamsuddin Ahmed among the convicts was present in the
dock when the judgment was read out.
His brother retired army captain Md Nasiruddin Ahmed, Razakar Commander Gazi
Abdul Mannan, Ajharul Islam and Hafiz Uddin are all fleeing from justice.
All of them, except Ajharul Islam, have been given the death penalty.
The trial had brought up the crimes against humanity they committed at a number
of villages in Kishoreganj's Karimganj Upazila during the Liberation War.
Their counsel said they will appeal against the verdict as they did not get
justice.
The prosecution said they were pleased with it.
The convicts now have 1 month to move the highest court.
The court in its verdict said the government would be able execute those
awarded the death penalty by hanging or shooting them until they are dead.
It has also ordered the home secretary and the inspector general of police to
take the initiative to arrest the fugitive convicts, and seek assistance from
the Interpol if needed.
Right after the judges finished reading out the verdict, Shamsuddin Ahmed, the
only convict present in court, said, "False witness, false judgment... Verdict
based on fake witnesses."
However, as he was speaking in very low volume, it was not clear whether the
judges heard his protest from the dock at the end of the courtroom.
Then he was taken to the tribunal's lockup. Some of his family members were
also present in the courtroom.
The sentences
All 5 were accused in charges 1, 3, and 4 brought by the prosecution for
abduction, torture in captivity, and murder.
Nasiruddin was accused of killing under charge 2, Shamsuddin of murders under
charge 5, Mannan of abduction, torture in captivity, and murder under Charge 6
and arson under Charge 7.
Charge 1: The killing of 8 and wounding of another of Bidyanagar and Ayla
villages of Kishoreganj's Karimganj from 1pm to 5pm on Nov 12, 1971.
Sentence: Death penalty for Shamsuddin, Nasiruddin and Mannan. Imprisonment
until death for Ajharul and Mannan.
Charge 2: The murder of Miah Hossain of Ayla Village on Nov 13.
Sentence: Death penalty for Nasiruddin.
Charge 3: Abduction and murder of Karimganj Upazila's Md Abdul Gafur at Khudir
Jungle Bridge on Sep 26.
Sentence: Death for Hafiz. Prison until death for Shamsuddin, Nasiruddin and
Ajharul. Mannan acquitted.
Charge 4: The abduction of Md Fazlul Rahman Master and his confinement to a
bungalow used by Peace Committee as their office. He was tortured and murdered
there on Aug 23.
Sentence: Prison until death for all 5.
Charge 5: The killing of Paresh Chandra Sarkar in Ramnagar village on Sep 7.
Sentence: Death penalty for Shamsuddin.
Charge 6: Abduction, torture and murder of Abu Bakar Siddik and Rupali from
Purba Nabaid Kalipur Village on Aug 25.
Sentence: Prison until death for Mannan.
Charge 7: The torching of 20 to 25 houses at Atkaparha village on Sep 15.
Sentence: Mannan sentenced to imprisonment for 5 years.
Shamsuddin Ahmed
Kishoreganj District Bar Association member Shamsuddin was born in 1956 at
Karimganj Upazila's Karimganj Madhyaparha village, according to his school
records.
The chargesheet said he had joined the Razakars during the war in 1971 and
engaged in war crimes in the district.
He went underground for a while after Bangladesh won the war against Pakistan,
but surfaced later.
He completed BA in 1982 and LLB in 1991. Four years later, he completed BEd
from Mymensingh Teachers Training College.
After working as a teacher since 1985, the war criminal retired in 2004 and
later enrolled in Mymensingh District Bar Association as an advocate.
Nasiruddin Ahmed
Born in 1954, former army captain Nasiruddin, Shamsuddin???s elder brother, had
joined the Razakars when the war broke out.
Both brothers received training from Razakar Commander Gazi Abdul Mannan,
according to the chargesheet.
Nasiruddin went into hiding like his brother after the war. After coming out,
he joined the army of independent Bangladesh.
The army sent him into forced retirement in 2002 over ethical grounds.
Gazi Abdul Mannan
Born in 1927 at Karimganj's Charparha, Mannan became a Razakar commander during
the war and was the local organiser of atrocities.
The court documents showed that he was directly involved in different crimes
against humanity including abduction, torture in captivity, murder and arson
along.
Hafiz Uddin
Hafiz was born in 1949 at Karimganj's Khudir Jungle. He received education in
local madrasas.
The war crimes tribunal's investigators had found proof of his involvement in
many crimes during the war after he joined the Razakar Force.
Ajharul Islam
Ajharul was born in 1956 at Karimganj's Haidhankhali village and received
education in local madrasas like Hafiz.
He was also involved in many war crimes in 1971 after he joined the Razakar
Force.
Case details
The prosecution's investigation team started their probe against these 5 war
criminals in June 2013 and finished it in November last year.
Police arrested Shamsuddin Ahmed from Mymensingh's Nandail on Nov 27, 2014.
The tribunal had taken the charges into cognisance 3 days after they were
submitted on May 10 last year. The 5 were indicted on Oct 12, which paved the
way for their trial.
25 people, including the investigation officer, testified to the prosecution,
but the defence produced no witnesses.
On Apr 11, the tribunal kept its verdict pending after the arguments ended.
23rd verdict
After coming into power in 2009, the Awami League-led government set up the
International Crimes Tribunal on Mar 25 in 2010 to try war criminals.
Tuesday's verdict, sentencing 4 Kishoreganj Razakars to death and imprisonment
until death to the 5th, was the 23rd announced by the tribunal.
In its 1st verdict, the special court had sentenced former Jamaat-e-Islami
Rukon Abul Kalam Azad alias Bachchu Razakar to death on Jan 21, 2013.
He has been absconding since the case was filed and has not appealed against
the verdict.
On Feb 5 that year, the tribunal sentenced Jamaat assistant secretary general
Abdul Quader Molla to life imprisonment, which sparked a nationwide campaign
demanding his death sentence.
Forced by the mass protest, the government amended the International Crimes
Tribunal Act, arming the State, like the defendants, with the right to appeal
against tribunal verdicts concerning war crimes.
Following a prosecution appeal, the Supreme Court, on Sep 17, revised Molla's
sentence to death penalty after finding him guilty of previously unproven
murders and rape.
The Jamaat leader was executed on Dec 12.
In its 3rd verdict, the tribunal sentenced senior Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain
Sayedee to death on Feb 28, 2013 for his wartime atrocities.
The Appellate Division, however, commuted the punishment to imprisonment until
death on Sep 17 last year after Sayedee, known as 'Deilya Razakar' in 1971,
appealed against the death sentence.
In the 4th verdict, another Jamaat Assistant Secretary General Mohammad
Kamaruzzaman was sentenced to death on May 9, 2013. He was executed on Apr 11
last year after the apex court upheld the sentence.
In the 5th judgment, the tribunal, on Jun 15, 2013, sent former Jamaat chief
Ghulam Azam to jail for 90 years for engineering wartime atrocities in 1971.
However, the 92-year-old Jamaat guru died at the BSMMU hospital on Oct 23, 2014
while undergoing treatment.
On Jul 17, 2013, the ICT, in its 6th verdict, gave Jamaat Secretary General Ali
Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid the death sentence after he was proven guilty of mass
killings and torture of Hindus during the war.
The Appellate Division on Jun 16 last year upheld the sentence against the
former commander of Al-Badr, a militia Pakistan had raised to crush the Bengali
struggle for independence.
In its 7th verdict, the ICT sentenced former BNP MP and Chittagong's wartime
terror Salauddin Quader Chowdhury to death on Oct 1, 2013. His sentence was
upheld on Jul 29, 2015.
Both Chowdhury and Mujahid were simultaneously hanged for their horrific war
crimes in the Dhaka Central Jail on Nov 22 last year.
Next, former BNP minister Abul Alim was sentenced to imprisonment until death
on Oct 9, 2013.
The 84-year old died at the BSMMU hospital's prison cell on Aug 30, 2014 while
undergoing treatment.
In the 10th verdict, the ICT on Nov 3, 2013, sentenced Al-Badr leaders
Ashrafuzzaman Khan and Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin to death for killing 18 Bengali
intellectuals during the last days of the war.
Both are absconding.
The 11th verdict came on Oct 29 in 2014, in which Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman
Nizami was given the death sentence for his involvement in mass murders, rapes,
and the massacre of Bengali intellectuals.
Nizami, who, the verdict said, had 'consciously and deliberately' misused the
name of Allah and Islam 'to ruin and root out the Bengali Nation', had appealed
against the judgment.
The verdict on his petition will be delivered on Thursday.
In the 12th verdict, the ICT, on Nov 2, 2014, sentenced former Al-Badr leader
of Chittagong Mir Quasem Ali to death. The Jamaat executive council member was
also the organisation's financial backbone.
The Supreme Court scrapped his appeal against the sentence, upholding the death
penalty on Mar 8 this year.
In its next verdict, the tribunal, on Nov 13, 2014, gave Faridpur's former
Razakar commander Zahid Hossain, better known as Khokon Razakar, the death
sentence. He is still on the run.
On Nov 24 the same year, Md Mobarak Hossain, a former Razakar commander from
Brahmanbarhia and an expelled Awami League leader, was given the death penalty.
On Dec 23 that year, in the 15th verdict, former Jatiya Party minister Syed
Mohammed Kaiser was sentenced to death for his war crimes. In 1971, he was a
Muslim League leader from Habiganj.
On Dec 30, Jamaat Assistant Secretary General ATM Azharul Islam, who led the
notorious Al-Badr militia in Rangpur during the war, was sentenced to death for
the slaughter of 1,400 Hindus.?
In its 17th judgment, announced on Feb 23 last year, the ICT handed down the
death penalty to senior Jamaat Nayeb-e-Ameer Abdus Subhan.
On the next day, the tribunal sentenced Pirojpur's Razakar militia leader Abdul
Jabbar to prison until death. The former Jatiya Party MP and vice-chairman is
still absconding.
In the 18th verdict delivered on May 20 last year, Razakars Mahidur Rahman and
Afsar Hossain Chutu of Chapainawabganj were also sentenced to prison until
death.
On Jun 9 the same year, the tribunal sentenced Kishoreganj's absconding Razakar
commander Syed Md Hasan Ali to death.
The verdict said the "death be executed by hanging the accused by the neck till
he is dead or by shooting him till he is dead".
The tribunal, in the 20th verdict, delivered on Jul 16, 2015, awarded
Patuakhali's Forkan Mollik, who was a close and notorious associate of local
Razakars, the death penalty for rapes and killings during the war.
On Aug 11, Bagerhat's Razakars leaders Sheikh Sirajul Haque alias 'Siraj
Master' was given the death sentence and Khan Akram Hossain imprisonment until
death for their war crimes.
The tribunal, in its 22nd verdict, on Feb 2 this year, sentenced to death
former Razakar commander Md Obaidul Haq alias Abu Taher and member of the
notorious militia Ataur Rahman Noni for mass killings in Netrokona.?
(source: bdnews24.com)
******************
4 Bangladesh war crimes convicts get death sentences
A special tribunal in Bangladesh today handed down death penalty to 4 men for
committing war crimes during the 1971 Liberation War by siding with Pakistani
troops as the court directed authorities to seek help from Interpol in nabbing
3 of them who are on the run.
Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD) in the capital also awarded
"imprisonment until death" to a fifth war criminal for carrying out atrocities
in northern Kishorganj.
The 5 were found responsible for abductions, torture and killings to help
Pakistan to abort Bangladesh's birth in 1971.
All the convicts were former members of Razakar Bahini, a Bengali-manned
auxiliary force of the Pakistan army in 1971.
7 charges were brought against them including mass killing, murder,
confinement, torture, arson and looting committed in their locality in 1971.
Gazi Abdul Mannan, 88, said to be a commander of Razakar camp, Nasiruddin
Ahmed, 62, his brother Shamsuddin Ahmed, 60, and Hafiz Uddin, 66, have been
given death, while Azharul Islam, 60, has been given imprisonment until death.
Only one of them, Shamsuddin, faced the trial in person while the rest,
including a former Bengali captain of the Pakistani force, were tried in
absentia.
Witnesses said the 3-member special tribunal led by Justice Anwarul Haque
sentenced one of the fugitives the imprisonment until death.
The court, in its 330-page verdict summary, ordered their immediate arrest and
directed authorities to seek help from Interpol if necessary.
The verdict came as Bangladesh Supreme Court said it will pronounce the final
verdict on May 5 on the death sentence it handed down to chief of
fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami, Motiur Rahman Nizami, deciding his fate over
crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.
Bangladesh has so far executed 4 war crimes convicts since the process began to
try the top Bengali perpetrators of 1971 atrocities in line with the electoral
commitment of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2008.
2 others have earlier been handed down "imprisonment until death" penalty
instead of capital punishment on grounds of their old age as they exceeded 80.
They subsequently died in the prison cells of a specialised state-run hospital
due to old age ailments.
(source: Press Trust of India)
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