The Appellate Division has upheld the death penalty of former Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam for war crimes in 1971.

The four-member bench headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain delivered the verdict on Thursday (Oct 31) after it concluded the appeal hearing on Jul 10 and kept its verdict pending.

Azharul’s counsel Khandaker Mahbub Hossain said that an appeal for a review will be filed within 15 days of receiving the copy of the verdict.

“There were no allegations of him [Azharul] being directly involved with the crimes and he was never present at the scene,” he said.

He added that the convict was an “18-year-old college student then and the crimes were organised by the Pakistani army.”

This is the 10th appeal to the top court against the verdict of International Crimes Tribunal.

Azharul was sentenced to death for murders, rapes and genocide during the Liberation War in 1971 by the International Crimes Tribunal in 2014.

He filed an appeal seeking acquittal in the case within a month of the verdict. The Appellate Division subsequently ordered him to submit a summary of his appeal on Aug 13, 2017.

Azharul, along with Jamaat and Chhatra Sangha activists, collaborated with the Pakistan Army and attacked villages around Jharhuar Beel on Apr 17, 1971.

They torched and looted houses and killed over 1,200 Hindus. Another 200 Hindus were detained and later killed at an undisclosed location. The incident is said to be the single biggest act of genocide in the war.