DHAKA: Bangladesh’s top court on Tuesday overturned a conviction against a key leader of the country’s main Islamist party, who had been on death row since being sentenced under the regime ousted last year.
A.T.M. Azharul Islam, from the Jamaat-e-Islami party, and who has been in custody since 2012, was acquitted of crimes against humanity by the Supreme Court, which ordered his release.
Azharul Islam was among six senior political leaders convicted during the tenure of Sheikh Hasina, whose 15-year-long autocratic rule as prime minister ended in August 2024 when a student-led revolt forced her to flee.
Azharul Islam’s lawyer Shishir Monir said he was “fortunate” because the five other senior political leaders who had been convicted – four from Jamaat-e-Islami, and another from the key Bangladesh National Party (BNP) – had already been hanged.
“He got justice because he is alive”, Monir told reporters. “The appellate division failed to review the evidence in other cases for crimes against humanity”.
Islam had been sentenced to death in 2014 for rape, murder and genocide during Bangladesh’s 1971 independence war from Pakistan.
Jamaat-e-Islami supported Islamabad during the war, a role that still sparks anger among many Bangladeshis today.
Political parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami, are readying for hugely anticipated elections which the interim government has vowed will take place by June 2026 at the latest.
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