4 get death penalty, 1 life imprisonment

A tribunal in Dhaka has given death penalty to four war crimes accused in a case filed against five Kishoreganj men for allegedly committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971.

Apart from one accused was also awarded life term imprisonment for war crime in 1971.

All the alleged Razakar members are from Karimganj upazila of Kishoreganj.

The three-member panel of International Crimes Tribunal-1 led by Justice Anwarul Haque started reading out the 330-page judgement around 10:45am in presence of the lone arrested accused, Shamsuddin.

On April 11, the tribunal kept the case waiting for the judgment after the prosecution and defense counsels completed their arguments.

The prosecution claimed that they had proved all seven charges ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ and sought capital punishment for the accused.

On the other hand, the defense prayed for their acquittal, saying no charge was proved at all.