Death Sentence of Jamaat Leader

Muhammad Kamaruzzaman

April 6, 2015

Who is Kamaruzzaman?

Death verdict against Jamaat leader Kamaruzzaman upheld by Appellate Division of

Supreme Court

Jamaat calls two day countrywide hartal in protest for Tuesday and Wednesday

Authorities call family to meet Kamaruzzaman for last time

Kamaruzzamans lawyer, Shishir Mohammad Manir, seeks visit to client to discuss possibility of mercy petition to President

The death sentence against Jamaat Assistant Secretary General, Mohammad Kamaruzzaman,
has been upheld this morning by the Supreme Court. The Appellate Division concluded hearing
arguments from the prosecution and defence on Sunday, setting today to deliver the verdict.
A four-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha, passed the
order.
Kamaruzzaman was convicted of war crimes during the Independence War of 1971, at which
time he was a boy of 17. The family and Jamaat have both rejected the verdict as politically
motivated.

Muhammad Kamaruzzaman is a
renowned intellectual, writer, journalist, and a senior leader ofBangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. He is the editor of the Weekly Shonar Bangla, has
authored 8 books, and penned hundreds of articles in various newspapers and periodicals. He joined Jamaat-e-Islami in 1979 and became
the partys Assistant Secretary General in 1992. He was also a popular
student leader and a founding member of Bangladesh Islami Chhattra
Shibir. He served as the Central President of Shibir in 1978 and 79. Mr
Kamaruzzaman has been representing his party in democratic elections since 1986 with outstanding
results.
On 13 July 2010, Mr Kamaruzzaman
was arrested by Awami League government, the political arch-rival of
Jamaat-e-Islami, on false charges
and is now being convicted to death
by apolitically motivated tribunal.

What are the allegations against him?

The fascist Awami regime has brought several false and fabricated allegations against Mr Kamaruzzaman. These include allegations of murder, mass murder/genocide, torture, humiliation, plunder, etc. during
Bangladeshs War of Independence in 1971. A total of 7 charges were
brought against him. Mr Kamaruzzaman denied all of these baseless
charges and pleaded not-guilty.
The sole purpose of the special tribu-

In general, there are 3 main reasons

nal, supposedly set up to deal with

that disqualify the allegations:

Crimes against Humanity during

1971 war, is to persecute the top Jamaat-e-Islami leadership. That is why
theAwami League government was not
particularly interested in maintaining
any standards in setting up the courts,
passing legislations for such courts, or
proceeding with the trials. Since the
people of Bangladesh are very sensitive and emotional regarding 1971 In-

1. The charges are newly manufactured

and

were

never

heard

of! Though the alleged incidents took

place more than 40 years ago, no such
allegations were brought against Mr
Kamaruzzaman by the relatives of the
victims or the state until a militarybacked Awami League claimed victory
in 2009 elections.

dependence War, it is very easy for a

2. Immediately after the war, the new

Third-World government to dumb

government of Bangladesh identified,

down the historical intricacies and

punished, and in some cases killed the

treat everyone who opposed inde-

local collaborators of the Pakistani Ar-

pendence as criminals. Thats the

my. Though Mr Kamaruzzaman was

chance the Awami League government

arrested after the war, the authorities

took. And with the help of a spineless

did not find any complaint against

judiciary, they are set to achieve their

him and he was released immediately.

goal of silencing their most effective

political opponent.

3. Mr Kamaruzzaman was born in

1952. During the war, he was only 19

It was absolutely clear, from the very

years old! It is impossible that an 19-

beginning, that these courts are mere-

year-old would assume leadership role

ly kangaroo courts, where standards of

of a large paramilitary force like

law and justice are blatantly disregard-

the Albadr or direct a professional

ed and the verdicts have already been

armed force like the Pakistani Army, as

decided before the trials have begun.

claimed by the delusional state prosecutors.way before the trials completed.

Why he is being targeted?

There are various reasons for Awami
League to target a popular leader
like him:
1. Muhammad Kamaruzzaman is a
leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, the only
political party in Bangladesh with an
honest leadership capable of moving
this country forward from the ruins
of corruption, poverty, and injustice.
2. Kamaruzzaman represents the
younger generation of leaders within
Jamaat-e-Islami who are open to
much needed reform and reorganisation of the party around the cultural synthesis of the people of
Bangladesh.
3. Kamaruzzaman has been an outspoken critic of the ruling Awami
League and through his writings he
made people aware of governments
corruption, oppression, and abuse of
power.
4. Kamaruzzaman is one of the few
leaders with a vision for Jamaat-eIslami and Bangladesh. With his
massive grassroots support and his
intellectual wherewithal, he is in a
perfect position to bring his vision to
reality.
5. Kamaruzzaman became an international face of Jamaat-e-Islami due
to his diplomatic connections
around the world and in Bangladesh.
His understanding of the world politics and ability to elegantly represent Jamaat at the world stage was
unparalleled.
With Kamaruzzaman out of the
equation, the Awami League as-

How biased and politicised was the court?

Though the government and ICT have

court as-is. He has also designed a guide-

6. In cases where they felt that the

stated that justice was the priority, op-

line for the judges and a basic structure

states accusations are not enough to

position parties Jamaat-e-Islami and

for all the verdicts to come, way before

convict a defendant,the judges added

the BNP accused the prime minis-

the trials completed.

extra accusations themselves out of the

blue, or advised the prosecution team

ter Sheikh Hasina of using the tribunal

to persecute them.

2. A number of the Tribunal members

participated in the so called Gana Adalat

In December 2012, conversations and

Commission (or Peoples Court) that pre-

emails between the judge and a Brussels-

judged these cases in the early 1990s.

based lawyer were published, which ac-

Indeed the former Chairman of the Tribu-

cording to The Economist revealed that

nal is listed as a member of the Secretari-

the government wanted a quick verdict

at of the Commission.
3. There was clear evidence of collusion

In response, an application was sub-

between the Tribunal, the prosecution,

mitted on behalf of Kamaruzzaman for a

and members of an anti-Jamaat organiza-

retrial, which was rejected. Following the

tion during the trial process. The prose-

revelations, the controversial chief Jus-

cutor and judges would meet regularly in

tice Nizamul Huq resigned from the post

secret and decide how they would act in

and Fazle Kabir was appointed there.

unison against the defence.

It was absolutely clear, from the very

4. Former Chairmen of the ICT-1, Justice

beginning, that these courts are mere-

Nizamul Huq, admitted that a state min-

ly kangaroo courts, where standards of

ister, Quamrul Islam, pressured him for

law and justice are blatantly disregarded

quick verdicts and a judge of the Appel-

and the verdicts have already been de-

late

cided before the trials have begun. Sev-

Court, Justice SK Sinha, offered him pro-

eral key incidents made this obvious:

motion in return.

1. As revealed in #SkypeGate, the judges

5. On several occasions, the judges de-

of this mockery of justice were directed

clared that they have a particular view of

by Ziauddin Ahmed, a member of a noto-

the events of 1971 and they would never

rious anti-Jamaat group. He was not an

change that view irrespective of whatev-

official of the court and yet,like a Czar, he

er evidence or witness testimony are

controlled every aspect of the tribunal.

presented before them.

On many occasions, he has written orders that were handed down by the

of

easier for them to convict the accused. The accused has to be convicted,
no matter how. For example, in Mr
Kamaruzzamans case the judges refused to accept the charges against him
twice because the charges were not

from the International Crimes Tribunal.

Division

to strengthen their charges so that its

the

strong enough to convict him. Even

after accepting the states formal
charge, the judges in their final verdict
added two more charges of their own,
of which Kamaruzzaman was not accused.
Such is the political commitment of the

Supreme

court.

Watch Video:
Fallacy of trial:
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?
v=NuAT2Q45EUE&feature=
youtu.be
KamaruzzamanA Victim of
Sheer Injustice
http://goo.gl/ostgKw
http://youtu.be/A07uAA59ppI

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