Appellate Division acquits Khan Akram Hossain in crimes against humanity case
Of the six charges brought against Sirajul Haque, five were proven, while one of the three charges brought against Akram was proven.
The Appellate Division has acquitted Khan Akram Hossain of Bagerhat, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 2015 by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) for crimes against humanity committed in 1971.
When a petition was moved seeking Khan Akram's immediate release, the Appellate Division said it would sign the short verdict within the coming week.
The verdict was delivered today (26 February) by an Appellate Bench led by the chief justice.
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The hearing on the appeal filed by imprisoned Khan Akram against the International Crimes Tribunal verdict concluded yesterday (25 February), with Chief Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam appearing for the state.
On 11 August 2015, ICT-1 sentenced Sheikh Sirajul Haque, also known as Siraj Master, of Bagerhat to death in the same case.
According to the tribunal verdict, there were three accused in the case.
Of the six charges brought against Sirajul Haque, five were proven, while one of the three charges brought against Akram was proven.
Siraj was handed the death penalty on all five proven charges, with the tribunal ordering that the sentence be carried out either by firing squad or by hanging.
The third accused in the case, Abdul Latif Talukdar, died while the trial was pending and was therefore dropped from the list of accused.
