War trial: Hearing on Nizami’s appeal tomorrow

The Supreme Court will start hearing tomorrow on an appeal challenging the death penalty and other sentences awarded to war criminal Motiur Rahman Nizami for his crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.

The appeal has been enlisted as item number 10 of tomorrow’s cause-list of a four-judge apex court bench headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha for hearing.  

Other three judges of the bench are Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, according to SC website.

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 on October 29 last year found 71-year-old Nizami guilty in eight of the 16 war crimes charges brought against him and handed him death penalty on four charges and lifetime imprisonment on the other four.

The four charges on which he was sentenced to death are his involvement in the killings of intellectuals, murders of 450 civilians and rape in Bausgari and Demra, killings of 52 people in Dhulaura, killings of 11 people and rape of three women in Karamja in Pabna.

Nizami, who has also been sentenced to death in the sensational 10-truck arms haul case, filed the appeal with the SC on November 23 last year challenging the verdict.

In his appeal, the Jamaat chief pleaded not guilty and sought acquittal on all eight charges.