Bangladesh: Nation’s expectations fulfilled

Law Minister Shafique Ahmed on Wednesday said the nation’s desire and expectations have been fulfilled through the convictions of war criminals. The international crimes tribunals have delivered the verdicts after examining relevant documents and evidence in a transparent manner, he said adding there is no scope to raise any questions over the transparency and acceptability of the trials. He came up with the remarks while speaking to reporters at his secretariat office after the ICT-2 sentenced Jamaat-e Islami’s Secretary General Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojaheed to death for his crimes against humanity during the country’s Liberation War in 1971. The law minister said the tribunals have tried the accused maintaining international standard. Replying to a question whether the president’s clemency power would be applicable to war crimes convicts, Shafique Ahmed said there is no scope for the president to pardon war criminals as per international conventions. “Although the president of our country has power to pardon any convict, I feel that the president will not exercise the power to give clemency to the war crimes convicts considering all the relevant aspects,” he added. Replying to another question, the minister said the chief prosecutor will decide about filing an appeal with the Supreme Court against a tribunal verdict that sentenced former Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Ghulam Azam to 90 years’ imprisonment for his crimes against humanity in 1971.