The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned its own 2019 judgment that had upheld the death sentence of Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam for crimes against humanity and genocide committed during the 1971 Liberation War.
In a landmark decision, a seven-member full bench led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed also quashed the 2014 verdict delivered by the International Crimes Tribunal-1, which had sentenced Azhar to death on multiple war crimes charges, including mass killings in Rangpur.
The apex court observed that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt and did not uphold the required standards of due process and evidence in war crimes adjudication. The court鈥檚 ruling marks the first instance in which a war crimes convict has been acquitted through a review petition since the tribunal鈥檚 inception.
The court further ordered Azhar鈥檚 immediate release from prison unless he is held in any other case.
Azharul Islam, then a student leader affiliated with the pro-Pakistan al-Badr militia, was arrested in August 2012 and indicted by the tribunal for his alleged role in atrocities during the final months of the 1971 war.
