War crimes: Verdict on ex-MP Shakhawat, 8 others any day

A special tribunal in Dhaka will deliver a verdict any day in a case filed against nine people including former Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Shakhawat Hossain for crimes they allegedly committed during the 1971 Liberation War.

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 led by Justice Anwarul Haque kept the case waiting for verdict after both the prosecution and defence counsels completed giving closing arguments.

The nine are facing five charges for committing crimes committed in Jessore in 1971.

Among them, Shakhawat, a former lawmaker from Jessore, and Billal Hossain Biswas are in jail.

The six other accused -- Ibrahim Hossain, Sheikh Md Mujibur Rahman, Kazi Ohidul Islam, Aziz Sardar, Aziz Sardar and Abdul Khaleq Morol -- are on the run.

Another accused, Lutfar Morol died of old age ailments in May this year when he was in police custody.

The prosecution on July 27 pressed charges against 12 people of killing two persons, raping one and torturing two others in Keshabpur of Jessore. All the incidents took place in the Bangla month of Ashwin (between mid-September and mid-October) during the Liberation War in 1971, according to the prosecution.

Shakhawat was a central committee member of Islami Chhatra Sangha, the then student wing of Jamaat, and a commander of Pakistan army's auxiliary force Razakar Bahini at Chingra Bazar camp, prosecutors said, while the other accused were members of Razakar Bahini.