Choudhury Mueenuddin
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Bangladesh to seek extradition of 1971 war crimes accused
PTI | Jul 21, 2013
Contents |
Choudhury Mueenuddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan @ Nayeb Ali
The Al-Badr militia of 1971
Choudhury Mueenuddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan alias Nayeb Ali were two leaders of the infamous Al-Badr militia manned mostly by students of the radical Jamaat-e-Islami party which was opposed to Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan and they fled the country when Pakistani troops surrendered after their defeat in the war.
Choudhury Muenuddin migrated to Britain and went on to become one of its most prominent Muslim leaders.
Prosecution lawyers say they had gathered specific evidence that Mueenuddin played a crucial role in the massacre of intellectuals opposed to the Islamists on December 14, 1971 just before the war ended while archival media documents revealed that he had acted like a secret killer.
The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-2) on June 24, 2013 indicted Mueenuddin and Khan on 11 counts of 'crimes against humanity' committed during the war.
The massacre of intellectuals
According to the prosecution evidence, Mueenuddin was the Al-Badr operation in-charge while Ashrafuzzaman Khan was the chief executor of the Gestapo-like elite militia force which is accused of killing top intellectuals, doctors, scholars and journalists during the war.
The tribunals handed down death penalty to four top Jamaat leaders and life imprisonment to two others.
Mueenuddin also denied involvement in "any criminal activities of any nature" in the 1971 liberation war or since, saying, "In fact, I was not even a supporter of military action and I resigned my political posts after the military crackdown."
See also
1971 War: The role, and tilt, of the USA
Choudhury Mueenuddin