Verdict on ATM Azhar's appeal against death penalty any day

The Supreme Court (SC) will deliver its verdict any day on the appeal filed by Jamaat leader ATM Azharul Islam challenging his death sentence for the atrocities during the Liberation War in 1971, report agencies.

A four-member bench led by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order after closing the law-point arguments from both sides.

Earlier, the Appellate Division on June 18 started hearing the appeal.

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 sentenced him to death on December 30, 2014, for crimes against humanity committed in Rangpur during the Liberation War.

He was found guilty of five of the six charges brought against him. Islam moved the top court on January 28 the next year.

Azharul, along with Jamaat and Chhatra Sangha activists, collaborated with the Pakistan Army and attacked villages around Jharhuar Beel on April 17, 1971.

They torched and looted houses and killed over 1,200 Hindus. Another 200 Hindus were detained and later killed at an undisclosed location. The incident is said to be the single biggest act of genocide in the war.