The International Crimes Tribunal has sentenced former MP Muhammad Saiful Islam and six others to death in a case of crimes against humanity filed in connection with the killing of seven people and burning of bodies in Ashulia during the July-August movement of 24.
On Thursday (February 5), a three-member judicial panel led by Tribunal-2 Chairman Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury announced the verdict against 16 accused.
In addition to the death penalty, eight accused were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment in the verdict. Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury was on the judicial panel along with Judge Md. Manjurul Bashid and Judge Nur Mohammad Shahriar Kabir. This is the first verdict announced by Tribunal-2.
At 12:25 pm, the eight accused arrested in the case were brought to the tribunal dock and Judge Nur Mohammad Shahriar Kabir read out the summary verdict in their presence. The arrested accused include former Dhaka District Additional Superintendent of Police Md. Abdullahil Kafi, former Additional Superintendent of Police Md. Shahidul Islam, then DB Inspector Arafat Hossain, SI Malek, SI Arafat Uddin, ASI Kamrul Hasan, SI Sheikh Abzalul Haque and Constable Mukul.
On the other hand, the eight accused who are absconding include former Dhaka-19 constituency MP Muhammad Saiful Islam, former Dhaka Range DIG Syed Nurul Islam, former Police Superintendent Md. Asaduzzaman Ripon and then Ashulia Police Station OC AFM Sayed Rony, along with several other police officers and local political leaders.
According to the case file, seven people were killed in police firing in Ashulia during the final stages of the uprising, whose bodies were later piled in a van and set on fire. The martyrs of this barbaric incident were Sajjad Hossain Sajal, As Sabur, Tanzil Mahmud Sujoy, Bayojid Bostami, Abul Hossain, Omar Faruk and Mohammad Shahabul Islam. On August 21 last year, the tribunal framed charges against the accused and ordered the trial to begin. While seven of the eight accused present during the trial claimed their innocence, SI Sheikh Abjalul Haque confessed his guilt and gave a statement as a public witness.
The prosecution filed a formal charge sheet against 16 people on July 2, with 313 pages of references, 168 pages of documentary evidence and two pen drives attached to it. On February 1, the tribunal fixed today for the verdict in the case.
The verdict stated that the main goal of the law is to ensure maximum punishment for such cruel and inhuman crimes. The prosecution said that the long-awaited verdict has fulfilled the families of the martyrs and the people seeking justice. The relatives of the deceased demanded the immediate arrest of the absconding accused and the implementation of the verdict.
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