Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan convicted in absentia of murdering 18 people during 1971 Pakistan war…
A UK-based Muslim leader has been sentenced to death for war crimes after a “farcical” trial in Bangladesh, his lawyer has said.
Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, who lives in London, was sentenced in his absence at a special war crimes tribunal along with Ashrafuzzaman Khan, who lives in the US. Both were found guilty of abducting and murdering 18 people including nine university teachers, six journalists and three doctors in December 1971, during Bangladesh’s fight for independence against Pakistan.
Mueen-Uddin’s lawyer Toby Cadman said: “I would like to say I am shocked and appalled but this is pretty consistent with the way these trials have been managed over the past two years.
“There have been very bold statements by the prosecution and the [Bangladeshi] government about seeking his return so he can be executed, but no British court is ever going to send him back because of the death penalty and the fair trial concerns that have been raised.
“Receiving the death sentence after such a farcical trial is very difficult for him to deal with. If there was a credible process, he would have submitted himself to trial.”
Cadman called for the international community to do more, after a letter issued by Lord Carlile and signed by eight members of the House of Lords and leading international lawyers asked William Hague to intervene because of concerns over the war crimes tribunal process.
“My concern is that I don’t know what else needs to happen for the international community to wake up to how serious this is,” Cadman said.
Mueen-Uddin did not wish to comment on the case himself. In a statement issued in May when he received a summons to appear at the tribunal, Mueen-Uddin said he rejected “each and every charge” against him.
The statement on his website said he had no confidence in receiving a fair hearing, adding that the process in Bangladesh would be “neither open nor fair”.
He said: “For the record, let me state clearly where I stand on the events of 1971. I was a journalist at the time, and yes, I supported the unity of Pakistan. However, supporting the unity of a sovereign nation is one thing, getting involved in crimes is not what I have taken part in any way, shape or form.
“While I remain interested in events in Bangladesh, I have for the last 40 years concentrated my efforts in community work here in the United Kingdom. This includes supporting the welfare of British Bangladeshis, and the lives of fellow Britons. The UK has been my home and has been so for my children.”
Neither the Home Office nor Scotland Yard could confirm whether an extradition request had been made for Mueen-Uddin. However, the Home Office does not extradite if the person faces the death penalty, unless the home secretary has been assured that the sentence will not be imposed.
A Home Office spokesman said: “As a matter of longstanding policy and practice the UK will neither confirm nor deny whether an extradition request has been made or received until such time as a person is arrested in relation to that request.”
Khan, who is in New York, was convicted at the same tribunal as Mueen-Uddin. Bangladesh says Pakistani soldiers and local collaborators killed three million people and raped 200,000 women during the war.
During the 1971 war Mueen-Uddin and Khan were members of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, which is allied with the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist party headed by the former prime minister Khaleda Zia, a rival of the current PM, Sheikh Hasina. Hasina formed a special tribunal in 2010 to try war crimes suspects.
According to Mueen-Uddin’s website, he was director of Muslim spiritual care provision in the NHS and has also been chairman of the multi-faith group for healthcare chaplaincy. It says he is married and lives in London, having begun his career as a journalist in Bangladesh after studying at the University of Dhaka.
He helped set up the Muslim Council of Britain and is a former deputy director of the Islamic Foundation. Mueen-Uddin met the Prince of Wales during Charles’s visit to the Markfield Islamic Foundation in January 2003.
Mueen-Uddin was the chairman of Muslim Aid and vice-chairman of the East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre, and he has also served on the board of housing associations, according to the website.
eNewsDesk / Source : .theguardian.
