The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, in the full text of a verdict released recently, expressed regret over its earlier judgement that upheld the conviction and death sentence of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam in a case filed over crimes against humanity during Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War.
“This Division (Appellate Division) acknowledges, with a profound sense of judicial responsibility, that in its earlier adjudication, it failed to give due and dispassionate consideration to the evidentiary deficiencies and the broader context in which the allegations of crimes against humanity were framed against the appellant,” said the seven-member bench headed by then chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed in the 74-page verdict.
“The earlier judgement regrettably fell short of the high standards of scrutiny and fairness mandated in criminal proceedings of such grave nature,” the bench added.
On May 27, 2025, the Appellate Division scrapped its previous judgement that had upheld the conviction and death sentence handed down by the International Crimes Tribunal in 2014 against Azharul.
The apex court also acquitted him of all charges and directed jail authorities to release him immediately unless he was wanted in any other case.
The bench delivered the verdict following an appeal filed by the Jamaat leader, challenging the conviction and death penalty awarded by the International Crimes Tribunal.
Azharul’s lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir said his client, who had been in jail since August 8, 2012, was released on May 28, 2025, following the Supreme Court verdict.
He added that ATM Azharul, currently nayeb-e-ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami, was elected lawmaker from the Rangpur-2 constituency in the February 12 national election.
Barrister Mohammed Belayet Hossain, another lawyer for Azharul, earlier told this correspondent that this was the first time the Appellate Division had rescinded its own judgement upholding a conviction and death sentence handed down by the International Crimes Tribunal in a crimes against humanity case.
Jamaat leaders Motiur Rahman Nizami, Abdul Quader Mollah, Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and Mir Quasem Ali, along with BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, were executed following Supreme Court verdicts in cases related to crimes against humanity committed in 1971.
