FFs reject verdict against Quader

Sector Commanders Forum Liberation War '71 holds a rally on Central Shaheed Minar premises in the capital yesterday demanding capital punishment for war criminal Abdul Quader Mollah.Photo: STAR

Several political leaders and freedom fighters yesterday rejected the verdict of International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-2 against Abdul Quader Mollah and demanded death sentence for the Jamaat-e-Islami leader.
They also urged the authority concerned to file an appeal against Tuesday's verdict that sentenced Quader Mollah to life in prison for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971.
They made the demands at a rally organised by the Sector Commanders Forum (SCF), Liberation War-'71, at Central Shaheed Minar in the capital.
Addressing the function, SCF Chairman and Planning Minister AK Khandaker said, "We hope that if the crimes end in death, the punishment also ends in death. We will have to make our country free from stigma."
Former Army chief Maj Gen (retd) KM Shafiullah said the young generation has started a war again more than four decades after the Liberation War to ensure justice.
Ruling-Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif rejected the allegations that the government had made a "political compromise" regarding the verdict.
“If we wanted to compromise, why did the Awami League government start the trial?” he asked.
Dhaka University Vice Chancellor Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique, among others, spoke.
After the rally, SCF leaders, activists and other freedom fighters joined the thousands of people in Shahbagh who continued the sit-in for the third consecutive day to press home the same demands.