Family members of war crimes convict Abdul Alim yesterday said they will challenge the conviction of Alim in the Supreme Court.

Following the pronouncement of the verdict by the ICT-2, Alim's son Sazzad bin Alim said, "We are aggrieved [by the verdict] and didn't expect such a verdict. It's a travesty of judgment."

He also claimed that his father could "never commit" crimes against humanity. "The people of Joypurhat elected him [Alim| seven times. Had he committed

FROM PAGE 16 such crimes, people wouldn't have voted for him."

Also a defence witness in the case against Alim, Sazzad said his father never belonged to the Razakar or Peace Committee during the Liberation War. "In 1971, our father was in hiding, far from Joypurhat," he added.

Defence lawyer Ahsanul Huq Hena said they would lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court against the verdict.

Talking to The Daily Star, Attorney General

Mahbubey Alam said Alim should have been awarded death sentence for committing crimes against humanity.

But it is a matter of satisfaction that the trial of Alim has been completed and his misdeeds have finally been revealed before the people, he mentioned.

On whether an appeal will be filed with the SC seeking death penalty for Alim, the attorney general said they will decide on it after getting the full text of

the verdict.

The ruling Awami League was not happy about the verdict, but said it accepted the tribunal's judgment as the party is respectful of the court.

"People's expectation was capital punishment for Alim. But the tribunal has sentenced him to jail for the rest of his life considering his health and age," Mahbubul Alam Hanif, joint general secretary of the AL, told The Daily Star.

He hoped that the prose-

cution would move to challenge the judgment in the higher court.

The main opposition BNP remained tight-lipped yesterday following the conviction of its former leader in the war crimes case.

Talking to newsmen, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said they will express their reaction after discussing the verdict issue in the party forum.

Jamaat-e-Islami, a key component of the BNP-led

18-party alliance, did not make any statement over the verdict.

Rashed Khan Menon, president of Workers Party, a component of the AL-led 14-party alliance, said, "We have seen enough examples that at Alim's age many war criminals of the Second World War got capital punishment. But in this case we didn't see this."

He urged the prosecution to go for an appeal with the Supreme Court against the tribunal's verdict.