Jammat leader Azhar freed from jail following acquittal in war crimes case

Dhaka: Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam, who had been on death row for war crimes, was released from custody on Wednesday morning—just a day after the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court overturned his conviction for crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Liberation War.

Deputy inspector general of prisons (Dhaka Division), Jahangir Kabir, confirmed to New Age that Azhar was released from the prison cell at Bangladesh Medical University at about 9:05am.

‘Although he has been freed from the war crimes conviction, a total of 10 other cases remain pending against him,’ Jahangir said.

On Tuesday, a seven-member full bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, unanimously scrapped its own 2019 judgment that had upheld the death sentence against Azhar. The court also overturned the original 2014 verdict issued by International Crimes Tribunal-1, which had sentenced him to death for mass killings and other atrocities in Rangpur during the war.

The apex court, in its ruling, observed that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt and noted serious procedural and evidentiary shortcomings in both the tribunal and earlier appellate proceedings.