Azad's indictment order Nov 1

Abul Kalam Azad

International Crimes Tribunal-2 will decide on November 1 whether it would frame charges against Abul Kalam Azad for his alleged involvement in crimes against humanity committed during the country's Liberation War.

The three-member tribunal headed by Justice ATM Fazle Kabir set the date on completion of arguments from both the prosecution and the defence on Sunday.

During the two-hour long proceedings that started around 10:30am, Prosecutor Sahidur Rahman brought 10 charges including looting, arson and forced people to convert to Islam against Azad, also known as Bachchu Razakar, for his crimes during the Liberation War in 1971.

Defence counsel, Abdus Sukur Khan, however, termed the allegations false, fabricated and baseless.

Earlier on October 7, the same court had decided to hold the trial of Azad in absentia.

On September 23, the tribunal directed the authorities concerned to publish an advertisement in two national dailies asking Azad to appear before it within 10 days of the publication.

Azad, also a former leader of Islami Chhatra Sangha and the then student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami in Faridpur, went into hiding around seven hours before tribunal-2 issued an arrest warrant against him on April 3.