Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leader AKM Yusuf died on February 9 reportedly due to old-age complications, at a time when the case against him was at the final stage. He was 87.
The senior Nayeb Ameer (senior vice-president) of BJI was one of the Opposition leaders who are accused of war crimes. The International Crimes Tribunal 2 was set to hear closing arguments in the case on February 12.
Yusuf fainted at the Kashimpur Jail in the morning when the authorities took him to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU). He died on way to the ICU, said Yusuf’s family members and defence counsel Gazi MH Tamim. The body was handed over to his elder son Mahbubur Rahman around 6:15pm after a post-mortem examination was conducted at the Dhaka Medical College morgue.
Earlier in the day, the defence submitted a petition with the Tribunal 2 so that they could receive the body without a post-mortem examination. After hearing both sides, the Tribunal ordered the jail authorities to follow the prison rules.
Assistant Professor AKM Shafiuzzaman of the Forensic Department at the DMC conducted the examination in presence of officials from Dhaka Central Jail and Kashimpur Jail. His heart and some other parts were preserved for further tests, said morgue sources. In the post-mortem report, Prof Shafiuzzaman mentioned that apart from brain haemorrhage due to a cardiac arrest, his old-age complications were also responsible for the death.
After his death, defence counsel Tajul Islam claimed that the jail authorities had brought Yusuf to BSMMU around 10:15am but he was not given proper treatment.
According to the prosecution, Yusuf had formed the first team of razakars (volunteers on May 5, 1971 with 96 members of Jamaat in Khulna. He started gathering people for the force on April 18. Yusuf was also reported as the regional chief of anti-liberation force Peace Committee.
He became a member of Abdul Motaleb Malik-led cabinet and served as Revenue Minister. However, all the cabinet members had resigned on December 14, only two days before the country’s independence, as they “decided to resign observing the country’s situation,” Yusuf told the Tribunal recently.
From 1956 until October 1958, Yusuf had served as Ameer (head) of Khulna unit Jamaat. He served as a member of Majlis-e-Shura (Central Executive Council) for three full terms between 1962 and 1971. He started his profession as a madrasa teacher in 1952 and became the principal of Khulna Alia Madrasa in 1958.
In his political career, Yusuf was an elected member of the National Assembly in 1962. He was nominated as the provincial joint secretary of Jamaat in 1969.
The Tribunal 1 on May 12 last year took the charges against Yusuf into cognisance. The case was transferred to the Tribunal 2 on July 1. He was arrested on May 12 following an arrest warrant issued by the Tribunal 1.
He was sick and several times sought bail from the Tribunal, but his appeal was always rejected.