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Azad Verdict

Int’l media covered it widely

Staff Correspondent
The maiden verdict of the war crimes tribunal on Monday was widely covered by the international media.
Most of the renowned newspapers and news agencies ran reports on the verdict. Some provided historical and political perspectives of the trial as well.
In its first verdict, the International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Monday sentenced expelled Jamaat-e-Islami member Abul Kalam Azad to death for genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the LiberationWarin 1971.
The BBC report headlined "Bangladesh cleric sentenced to death for war crimes" termed the tribunal “controversial" and identified Azad as a "well-known Muslim cleric”.
With the subheading “Fractious politics” in another report, titled “Bangladesh's watershed war crimes moment”, the BBC said, "While the ruling Awami League has made the trials one of its key goals, the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party or BNP has been less forthcoming.
"The BNP has maintained an electoral alliance with the Jamaat-e-Islami since 2001 and many in the party feel the alliance gives them their best chance of returning to power. But the BNP is unable to oppose the trials.”
Mentioning “Skype scandal”, it said the tribunal itself suffered a setback last month, when hours of con-versation over Skype
between one of its presiding judges and a Brussels-based lawyer were revealed in the press.
The BBC also had a third report on Monday about key war crimes suspects being tired at the tribunals.
The New York Times, quoting Associated Press, ran a report titled “Bangladesh: Fugitive Sentenced to Death by War Crimes Tribunal” where it identified Azad as “popular Islamic televangelist and a member of the Jamaat-e-Islami party”.
"Jamaat-e-Islami campaigned in 1971 against Bangladesh's war of separation from Pakistan. The party is accused of supporting or in some cases taking part in atrocities committed by Pakistani troops,” it said.
"Bangladesh says that during the nine-month war, Pakistani troops and local collaborators killed three million people and raped about 200,000 women," it added.
AP ran the report titled "Bangladesh sentences Islamic cleric to death for crimes from 1971 independence war,” where it identified Azad as “an Islamic cleric formerly tied to a fundamentalist party”.
News agency Reuters ran a report titled “Islamic cleric sentenced to death for Bangladesh war crimes" and termed Jamaat Bangladesh's biggest Islamist party.
“The tribunal has been criticised by rights groups for failing to adhere to standards of international law, while opposition parties say it is politically biased,” it said.
News agency AFP ran its report with the headline "Bangladesh cleric gets death sentence for war crimes” where it mentioned the tribunal as "a domestic body with no international oversight”.
"Supporters of the ruling Awami League party held instant processions in the capital and across the country as the verdict were announced. There were also marches by former freedom fighters, some of whom made V-signs," its report read.
Times of India and the Dawn of Pakistan and Gulfnews.com ran reports of AFP
The Nation of Pakistan, The Telegraph and The Hindu of India ran reports while Al Jazeera, quoting several agencies, also ran a report on the verdict.