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Bangladesh journalist demands speedy trial of war criminals

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ANI Dhaka
Last Updated : Jan 19 2015 | 8:55 AM IST

Bangladesh journalist, Shahriar Kabir has called for expediting the trial process of war criminals of 1971 Liberation War.

Kabir while talking to a reporter in Dhaka city said that Bangladesh should try the alleged war criminals.

Bangladesh became part of Pakistan at the end of British rule in 1947 but broke away in 1971 after a war between Bangladeshi nationalists, backed by India, and Pakistani forces.

About three million people were killed, according to official figures, and thousands of women were raped.

Kabir said that the trial needed to be fast-tracked as many victims of the war had died waiting for justice and many accused too had died without being punished.

"For the last 43 years the victims are waiting for justice. Many of them have already passed away as well as the accused are also dying. So, it is very important for the sake of justice we should go for a speedy trial and there should be a separate bench in the tribunal to give a hearing for the appeal and this way we can expedite the trial process," said Kabir.

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The tribunal has convicted 16 people, most of them Jamaat leaders, and sentenced 14 of them to death. One Islamist politician was executed in December 2013.

An Islamist party leader was sentenced to death in December 2014 after war crime tribunal convicted him of atrocities.

A.T.M. Azharul Islam, 62, assistant secretary general of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was found guilty of five out of six charges including the murder of hundreds of minority Hindus, rape, abduction and torture, prosecutors said.

Meanwhile, Kabir also said that the provision of presidential clemency for convicted war criminals must be reviewed as these crimes were not ordinary crimes.

"Well, it's the universal right of the President, head of the state, but these crimes, these are not normal, common crimes, it is genocide, it is crimes against humanity, it is the most brutal and heinous crimes one can ever conceive. So, we have asked our government to review this clause, Article-50 of our constitution," said Kabir.

However, Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, has in the past denied any scope of dropping the presidential clemency for the war criminals.

International human rights groups have said the tribunal falls short of international standards. The government dismissed that criticism.

Some factions in Bangladesh, including the Jamaat, opposed the break with Pakistan, but the party denies accusations that its leaders committed atrocities.

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First Published: Jan 19 2015 | 8:48 AM IST

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