Nizami brought to justice
WITH the International Crimes Tribunal-1 sentencing Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami to death, another top leader of the party gets his comeuppance. He adds to the list of five other infamously high-profile convicts marking an advanced stage in the long-awaited trial process as a whole.
Nizami has been found guilty in 8 of the 16 charges leveled against him after 22-month-long trial proceedings marked by hurdles. Those included tribunal reconstitution, rehearing of the closing arguments and deferment of verdict by a year. The sheer length of time spent in the proceedings and the flexibility shown to the defence reflect due deliberation and diligence in the pursuit of the legal process. It is worthwhile to mention that Nizami had already been given death penalty in 10-truck arms haul case in January this year.
It must be remembered that Nizami like his ilk not only conspired and collaborated with the Pakistan occupation army to abort our freedom struggle heralded by the stirrings of the soul of our people but also perpetrated heinous war crimes and crimes against humanity either as auxiliary force or participants in genocide.
The government's resolute pursuit of the task it had set itself to fulfill and the persistent efforts of the War Crimes Tribunal despite occasional odds have been, on the whole, praiseworthy. Here, the determination of the Prime Minister herself deserves to be highlighted.
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