The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday began hearing the appeal of Mobarak Hossain, an expelled Awami League leader and a former Jamaat-e-Islami member, challenging his 2014 death sentence for war crimes committed in the Brahmanbaria area during the 1971 Liberation War.
A four-member bench, headed by chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, began proceedings in the long-pending case by hearing arguments from Mobarak Hossain鈥檚 defence counsel, Imran Abdullah Siddiq.
His argument remained unfinished when the court adjourned the hearing until Wednesday morning.
Mobarak is now in jail.
During the hearing, defence counsel Imran Abdullah Siddiq argued that Mobarak Hossain had no affiliation with the pro-Pakistani auxiliary forces Razzakar or Al-Badr during the 1971 Liberation War.
He also pointed to several contradictions in the International Crimes Tribunal鈥檚 verdict, which sentenced Mobarak to death for the killing of 33 unarmed civilians.
Imran contended that the conviction was based solely on the testimony of a single witness, raising questions about the evidentiary foundation of the ruling.
The hearing comes months after the Appellate Division had acquitted Jamaat leader ATM Azharul Islam, overturning his death sentence awarded by the International Crimes Tribunal in 2014 in another war crimes case.
On November 24, 2014, the International Crimes Tribunal 1 sentenced Mobarak to death for his role in the abduction, confinement, torture, and murder of civilians during the war.
He was found guilty on five charges, including genocide and crimes against humanity.
The death penalty was handed down for his direct involvement in the massacre of 33 unarmed villagers in Akhaura, Brahmanbaria.
Mobarak had served as the organising secretary of a local Awami League unit in Akhaura for 16 years. He was expelled from the party following the emergence of war crimes allegations.
The initial case against Mobarak was filed in 2009 by Khodeja Begum, whose father was allegedly killed by the accused during the war. The case was later transferred to the International Crimes Tribunal.
On March 12, 2013, the tribunal accepted the charges against Mobarak and ordered his detention.
