Kaiser\\\'s war crimes verdict within a few hrs

The war crimes tribunal will deliver its verdict on former state minister Syed Mohammed Kaiser within a few hours. Kaiser, a Muslim League leader during Bangladesh’s independence struggles in 1971, was later made a minister of state in the government of former military ruler Hussain Mohammed Ershad, the Chairman of Jatiya Party which was one of the main components of the Awami League-led grand alliance government of 2009-2013. Kaiser has been charged with murder, massacre, rape, extortion, arson and torture in 16 cases filed with the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-2. Justice Obaidul Hassan, heading ICT-2, on Monday fixed the date of Kaiser’s war crimes verdict for Tuesday. The ICT-2 finished hearing out the defence and the prosecution in Kaiser's case in August and kept the judgment pending. Thereafter, the tribunal cancelled Kaiser's bail and sent him to prison. Kaiser is the 2nd to be charged with 'crimes against humanity' whose hearings proceeded with the accused out on bail. This will be the 14th verdict of the tribunal since the start of the war crimes trials. The trial of Kaiser started on Feb 2 this year following his indictment in 16 cases. Earlier, the tribunal issued a warrant of arrest for Kaiser on May 15 last year and detained him the same day. On May 21 he was produced in court and sent to prison. The tribunal granted him a conditional bail on Aug 4, according to a news agency.