former Jatiya Party lawmaker Abdul Jabbar
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-A special war crimes tribunal Tuesday awarded imprisonment till death to former Jatiya Party lawmaker Abdul Jabbar in absentia for the crimes that he had committed 43 years ago during Bangladesh’s Liberation War.
Jabbar, the chairman of Pirojpur’s Mathbaria unit of Peace Committee, an auxiliary force to the Pakistani occupation army, was given the punishment in four charges of crimes against humanity.
Jabbar, 82, also awarded 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined BDT 1million in another charge of crimes against humanity.
The International Crimes Tribunal-1 pronounced the judgement Tuesday.
Jabbar played a key role in the formation of Razakar Bhahini and had led the force in committing crimes in Mathbaria in Pirojpur, a southern district of Bangladesh.
Jabbar was found guilty of five charges out of total five, which include murder, genocide, forced conversion and looting during the Liberation War.
Jabbar has been fugitive since 2009.
Security was tightened in and around the tribunal in Dhaka before the verdict.
BBN/AI/ASI-24Feb15-12:20pm (BST)