Bangladesh War Crimes Tribunal Update

http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=232153&cid=3 

Ghulam Azam linked to intellectuals' execution Wed, Sep 12th, 2012 3:09 pm BdST

Dhaka, Sep 12 (bdnews24.com) — Human rights activist and freedom fighter Sultana Kamal told the war crimes tribunal on Wednesday that Jamaat-e-Islami guru Ghulam Azam 'must have been the one to approve the execution of intellectuals' in 1971 during the Liberation War.  Former Jamaat chief Ghulam Azam's defence counsel had asked the prosecution witness whether she knew where and when Azam, indicted for war crimes on Apr 13, had approved the murder of the Bangladeshi intellectuals.  The witness said that the leader of Al Badr, Motiur Rahman Nizami, was also a leader of the Jamaat. "And as the Jamaat chief, [Azam] must have approved the executions."  The three-judge International Crimes Tribunal – 1, set up to try crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, has indicted Ghulam Azam for complicity, incitement, conspiracy and planning of war crimes.  Wednesday was the third time the 63-year war-time nurse came to testify against the Jamaat guru.  Sultana Kamal said in reply to another question that the former Jamaat chief was made an accused in two cases under the Collaborators Act and was later made persona non grata in Bangladesh.  The defence counsel asked whether this was an official statement or a political statement at that time, to which the witness said, "It was a reflection of public sentiment at that time."  As the defence counsel proceeded to ask about further details regarding what kind of public pressure and which quarters had actually raised their voice, the court stopped saying that this was well known and very much in the court's notice.  bdnews24.com/ta/nir/1500h