War crimes verdict against ex-MP Sakhawat tomorrow

The war crimes tribunal will deliver its verdict against eight suspects, including former Jamaat-e-Islami MP Sakhawat Hossain, on Wednesday. Apart from Sakhawat, who is the Jatiya Party's religious affairs secretary, other accused are Md Billal Hossain, Md Ibrahim Hossain, Sheikh Md Mujibur Rahman, Md Abdul Aziz Sarder, Qazi Ohidul Islam alias Wahidur Salam, Md Aziz Sarder and Abdul Khalek Morol. They have been charged with abduction, confinement, torture, rape and murder of Bangalis during the Liberation War. Another accused, Lutfor Morol, died of cardiac arrest in police custody on May 6 this year. International Crimes Tribunal chief Justice Anwarul Haque announced the date on Tuesday. The tribunal had finished hearing the case on July 14 and kept the verdict pending. Seventeen witnesses testified against the accused. Sakhawat, a former MP from Jessore, was arrested in Dhaka in 2014. The tribunal indicted the nine accused on December 23 last year.