Source: Daily Star

Former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Ghulam Azam has been handed 90-year jail for his role in the murder and genocide of the independence-seeking people of the land who were fighting occupation Pakistani army in 1971. All the five charges, which include murder and torture of unarmed people, conspiracy, planning, incitement and complicity in genocide, were proved, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 pronounced. The gravity of Azam’s offences warrant death penalty, it said but stopped short of awarding so to the 91-year-old high profile Jamaat leader considering his old age. The tribunal handed Azam 10-year imprisonment for each instance of conspiracy and planning, 20 years for incitement and complicity and 30 years for murders. In protest, Jamaat called a countrywide daylong shutdown for Tuesday. Read more

Additional coverage from NY Times.

By GARDINER HARRIS

Published: July 15, 2013
NEW DELHI — A Bangladesh war crimes tribunal on Monday sentenced a 91-year-old former Islamic party leader to 90 years in jail for crimes committed during the country’s 1971 war for independence.

Ghulam Azam, the former leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was convicted on all five major counts against him, including murder, conspiracy and incitement and complicity to commit genocide. They concluded that the death penalty was appropriate for the charges but commuted that sentence to what is effectively life in prison. Read more

Huffington Post: 

Ghulam Azam, Former Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Party In Bangladesh, Sentenced To 90 Years For War Crimes

By JULHAS ALAM

DHAKA, Bangladesh — A 91-year-old former chief of an Islamic party in Bangladesh was sentenced to 90 years in jail on Monday for crimes against humanity during the country’s 1971 independence war, angering both supporters who said the trial was politically motivated and opponents who said he should be executed.

A special tribunal of three judges announced the decision against Ghulam Azam in a packed courtroom in Dhaka, the capital. The panel said the former leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party deserved capital punishment, but received a jail sentence instead because of his advanced age and poor health.   Read More