Court asks for formal charges against Azharul by July 15

This August 22 file photo shows Jamaat leader Azharul Islam waves to onlookers as he is put into a prison van after his arrest at his Moghbazar home in the capital in connection with crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War.

A tribunal in Dhaka on Sunday asked the prosecution to submit formal charges against war crimes suspect Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam by July 15.

Jamaat acting secretary general Azhar reportedly had direct involvement in the killing of 1,200 unarmed Bangalees in Badarganj upazila of Rangpur on a single day during the Liberation War of the country in 1971.

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 led by Justice ATM Fazle Kabir fixed the date on Sunday after prosecutor Saiful Islam submitted a progress report on the investigation before the court, Bangla daily Prothom Alo reports.

Police arrested Azhar at his Moghbazar home in the capital on August 22, two hours after the tribunal issued an arrest warrant against him in connection with crimes against humanity.

THE ALLEGATIONS

According to the prosecution, Azhar was a student of Rangpur Carmichael College and president of Islami Chhatra Sangha of Rangpur.

He led the formation of the Al-Badr force in the district during the Liberation War.

The prosecution claimed that on a single day in mid-April 1971, around 1,200 freedom-loving Bangalees of Jharuar Beel and Padmapukur areas of Badarganj were killed and Azhar was directly involved in the mass killing.

Azhar was also involved in arson and looting of numerous houses in Badarganj area in cooperation with the Pakistani army.

In April 1971, Azhar along with the Pakistani army, abducted a professor of Rangpur Carmichael College along with his wife and some other professors of the college.

They were shot dead near Damdama Bridge in the district.

The Jamaat leader was directly involved in the killing of at least 11 people, including a prominent pro-liberation lawyer of Rangpur and a nine-month pregnant woman of Dhappara, in cooperation with the Pakistani army.

The lawyer was abducted in late March 1971.

He was confined to Rangpur cantonment and tortured inhumanly there.

In April, he along with 10 others was shot dead at Dakhiganj Mahashwashan.

The accused also got involved in hatching conspiracies to kill pro-liberation intellectuals and professionals.