Tribunal in Bangladesh jails war criminals Mahidur and Afsar till death

When the night had faded into the pale light of dawn on October 6, 1971, Mahidur Rahman and Ashraf Hossain Chutu with hundreds of armed Razakars and Pakistani army launched an extensive hunt in four remote villages under Shibganj upazila in Chapainawabganj against pro-liberation people.

They dragged 17 civilians out of their homes into a field of Binodpur High School in Shibganj. Around 9:30am, Mahidur and Ashraf gunned 12 of them with their own rifles. Only five managed to escape with bullet wounds.

They did not stop there. Capturing 22 more innocent men from Chandshikari village of Shibganj, they tortured them throughout the whole night to extract information about freedom fighters.

The following day, the duo along with other Razakars queued 15 of them up and shot 12 of them dead in an open space in Binodpur. Only three of them survived with bullet injuries.

The duo who had committed such horrendous crimes during the Liberation War, however, were spared the gallows as they had already served life term for killing four other people in 1971.

A special tribunal yesterday sentenced them to imprisonment till death.

"The offence proved was of a gravest nature that shakes human conscience, the humanity and civilization. Indeed they deserve the highest sentence i.e. capital punishment,” said the tribunal in its verdict.

"However, we consider it just to take the admitted fact into account that the accused persons were convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for life under the Collaborators Order 1972…" it said, explaining why they were spared the gallows.

Justice Obaidul Hassan, chairman of the tribunal, read out the summary of the 133-page judgement: "The accused Mahidur Rahman and Afsar Hossain Chutu participated, abetted and substantially contributed to the accomplishment of killing 24 civilians, the outcome of systematic attack constituting the offence of 'murder' as crimes against humanity."

"It sufficiently proves the accused persons' involvement in all the phases of the entire event of killing the persons brought forcibly at Binodpur High School on 06 October, 1971," the verdict read.

The International Crimes Tribunal-2 also sentenced Mahidur, 84, and Afsar, 65, to five years' imprisonment by majority for looting and burning down houses in two villages -- Kabirajtola and Eradot Biswasertola -- in Shibganj.

Of the three charges framed against the duo, the three-member tribunal, by majority, dropped the third charge relating to the killing of four people in 1971 because they had already been punished for this crime under the Collaborator Act 1972.

The court unanimously handed them "sentences of imprisonment for life till death" for killing 24 people but was divided over the other two charges. While Justice Hassan and Justice Md Shahinur Islam gave them five years' imprisonment for the second charge, Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah acquitted them.

Though Justice Hassan and Justice Islam dropped the third charge, Justice Mozibur Miah found them not guilty in the charge as the prosecution did not produce any witness in support of the charge.

The tribunal in its verdict said the accused persons belonged to the Razakar force and collaborated with the Pakistan army in committing crimes.

"The criminal events that resulted in murder of numerous civilians and causing mental and physical harm to the civilians were the fragmented portrait of the total horrific attack against the Bengali non combatant pro-liberation civilians in the territory of Bangladesh in 1971,” said the court.

Terming the convicted "small fishes" with no significant profile, the court said, "Letters of law do not consider the level of the offender in awarding sentence. It considers the level and gravity of the offence for which the offender is found guilty."

The court reprimanded investigation officer ZM Altafur Rahman for bringing up the third charge in which the duo had already served imprisonment.

The convicted were taken to the courtroom at 10:47am. Both Mahidur, who wore a golden coloured Panjabi and off-white trouser, and Afsar, clad in white Panjabi and off-white trouser, seemed to be nonchalant throughout the 17-minute proceeding.

Family members of Mahidur were present during the proceeding, but there was none from Afsar's family.

The prosecution expressed their satisfaction over the verdict. "However, we will decide whether to file an appeal seeking capital punishment after receiving a copy of the verdict,” prosecutor Sahidur Rahman said.

The defence expressed dissatisfaction over the judgement and said they would file an appeal against the verdict after getting a copy of the full verdict.

Abdus Sobhan Tarafdar, a defence counsel, said the investigation officer did not carry out proper investigation in the case.

The prosecution or the defence will get 30 days' time from yesterday to file an appeal with Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.

But the victims' family members and freedom fighters in Shibganj upazila were unhappy with the verdict as it did not live up to their expectations.

They said they hoped the duo would get capital punishment.

"My brother and two nephews were picked up from our house and were brutally killed. We have been waiting for justice for over four decades, but our expectations have not been fulfilled," said Nasoria Badsha of Chandshikari village.

People of Binodpur union brought out a procession in Khaserhat area expressing dissatisfaction over the verdict after learning about the verdict from media, reports our Chapainawabganj correspondent.

Son of Subedar Ali Biswas of Dadanchak in Shibganj, Mahidur was involved in the politics of Muslim League prior to 1971 and joined the Peace Committee and Razakar force during the war.

Afsar, 65, son of Kutub Uddin Morol of Satrosia of Shibganj, had also been an activist of Muslim League and joined the Peace Committee and Razakar force.

They were arrested in a criminal case on September 16 last year. Later, they were shown arrested in the war crimes case on November 24 and the tribunal framed three charges against them on December 11.

With Mahidur and Afsar, the two tribunals so far convicted 20 people in 18 cases for the crimes they committed during the nine-month-long war.