The civil suit seeking a court order declaring leader of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, Professor Ghulam Azam and 35 others war criminals was withdrawn by the plaintiffs on May 13. In defence of the withdrawal of the suit, Dhaka District Chief Government Pleader (GP) Fakir Delawar Hossain said the civil court dealing with the suit has no jurisdiction to mete out exemplary punishments to the defendants, even if they were proven guilty. “The court could have only declared them war criminals on the basis of documents submitted by the plaintiffs,” said Delawar, who on government directives pursued the private litigants to withdraw the case. The petition submitted by the plaintiffs to the court seeking withdrawal of the case, said the government already initiated steps to try war criminals under the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act 1973 by setting up special tribunals, and the plaintiffs considered the government efforts reasonable.
According to the international crimes act, upon conviction of a war criminal, the tribunal is supposed to sentence the convicted to any punishment proportionate to the gravity of the crime as appears to the tribunal to be just and proper, including death.
Talking to reporters, Delawar said the government high ups instructed him to take necessary steps for withdrawal of the case filed by three lawyers on November 13 last year against Ghulam Azam and the 35 others. “The government might have faced difficulties to initiate trials of the 36 defendants on charges of war crimes if this case continued,” he added. State Minister for Law Advocate Qamrul Islam also expressed satisfaction over the withdrawal of the case.
The 36 defendants included Jamaat’s former Ameer Professor Ghulam Azam, its incumbent Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami, Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid, and the party’s senior central leaders Abdus Subhan, AKM Yosuf, Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, Abdul Quader Molla, Delwar Hossain Saydee, Mir Kasem Ali, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Barrister Korban Ali, and Advocate Ansar Ali, and BNP lawmaker Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.