Nizami appeals against war trial verdict

Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Maulana Matiur Rahman Nizami on Sunday filed a petition with the apex court challenging the death penalty awarded to him by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 on October 29 for wartime offences. The (ICT)-1 handed capital punishment to Nizami for his crimes against humanity during Bangladesh’s independence struggles in 1971. Claiming himself innocent, Nizami, in his appeal, sought acquittal from all the charges he was found guilty for. The panel of the judges of ICT-1, chaired by Justice M Enayetur Rahim, sentenced him to hang till death on Oct 29 in a packed courtroom in Dhaka, nearly a year after the case was wrapped up. He was given death penalty on four charges of war crimes, which include the killings of intellectuals. The 71-year-old was awarded life sentence in four other charges as the ICT-1 found him guilty in total eight out of 16 charges levelled against him, according to private TV channels.