The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has unanimously acquitted Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam 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. On December 30, 2014, the ICT sentenced him to death, prompting an appeal on January 28, 2015. The Appellate Division upheld the sentence on October 30, 2019, and published the full judgment on March 15, 2020. Azharul sought a review of the verdict on July 19, 2020, and on February 26, 2024, the Appellate Division granted leave to appeal, leading to his final acquittal on May 27, 2024.
The hearing concluded at 9:55am Tuesday after being listed as the day’s first case. Azharul, who has been imprisoned since his arrest in 2012, was represented by Advocate Mohammad Shishir Monir (lead) and Syed Md Raihan Uddin, while the prosecution was led by Additional Attorney General Anik AR Haque and Prosecutor Gazi MH Tamim.