Bangladesh Chhatra Union protested the release of Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam.
Members of the leftist student organization clashed with police on Tuesday as they marched toward Shahbagh area in the capital to protest the release.
The demonstrators brought out a protest procession demanding justice and opposing the reported move to release Azharul Islam.
Tensions escalated when police attempted to block the march near Shahbagh, resulting in a scuffle between law enforcers and student activists.
No serious injuries were immediately confirmed. Bangladesh Chhatra Union has strongly condemned the police action, calling it an attack on the democratic right to protest.
The student organization vowed to continue their agitation, stating that any move to release a ‘convicted war criminal’ would be a betrayal of the Liberation War’s legacy and justice for the victims of 1971.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has unanimously acquitted the Jamaat leader of crimes against humanity charges from the 1971 Liberation War, overturning his previous death sentence.
A seven-member bench headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed delivered the verdict on Tuesday, annulling both the International Crimes Tribunal’s original death penalty ruling and the Appellate Division’s subsequent confirmation of the sentence. The court ordered Azharul’s immediate release unless detained in other cases.
The case timeline spans nearly a decade, beginning with Azharul’s arrest from his Moghbazar residence on August 22, 2012.