Tribunal delays war crimes verdict on Nizami

Court Correspondent: International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) has delayed the verdict on Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami at the last minute on Tuesday after doctors said he could not be moved from jail due to ill health.

Chairman of ICT-1 M Enayetur Rahim passed the order on Tuesday morning.

Earlier, the jail authorities sent a letter to ICT-1 mentioning that “Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami has fallen sick and he is physically unfit to appear before the tribunal right now”.

He suddenly fell sick at around 3.00am, they said.

Nizami’s lawyer Advocate Tajul Islam said, "The verdict announcement against the Jamaat leader has become uncertain as he suddenly fell sick on Tuesday morning".

Earlier, the tribunal fixed Tuesday for pronouncing the verdict.

After Nizami’s arrest on July 29, 2010 for allegedly hurting religious sentiments, his trial began on May 28, 2012.

Nizami is charged with 16 counts of war crimes including murder, rape, looting, abduction and inciting violence and the massacre of Bengali intellectuals during Bangladesh’s Liberation War in 1971.

risingbd/June 24, 2014/mehadi/mukul/Augustin Sujan