ICT jails fugitive Jabbar unto death

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) Tuesday jailed 83-year-old fugitive Engineer A Jabbar of Pirojpur, a former MP of Jatiya Party (Ershad), unto death for his crimes against humanity, especially genocide, during the 1971 War of Liberation, reports UNB.
Justice M Enayetur Rahim, chairman of the three-member tribunal, pronounced its mitigating punishment instead of death penalty at 12:10pm in a crowded courtroom, 82 days after closure of trial. The ICT-1 also announced a fine asking the convict war criminal to pay Tk 1.0 million and serve 20 years more rigorous imprisonment, on charges of forced conversion of Hindus to Muslims during the Liberation War.
Both the sentences decided unanimously would run concurrently, said the tribunal.
The tribunal, in its judgment containing 141 pages, said although the convict war criminal deserves capital punishment for the gravity of the crimes against humanity he perpetrated, the tribunal took the view of the existence of mitigating circumstances in awarding punishment, namely the old age of the convict.
The tribunal said the sentences will come into effect after his arrest or once he surrenders to the court, whichever is earlier, and the convict is eligible to file an appeal with the Supreme Court against the tribunal verdict subject to his surrender to the court within the prescribed deadline.