Ghulam Azam
Ghulam Azam (7 November 1922 – 23 October 2014) was a Bangladeshi Islamist politician and the leader of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami from 1960 - 2000. In 2012 he was convicted of war crimes due to his involvement in the Bangladesh Liberation War and the 1971 Bangladesh Genocide.
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Biography edit
Azam was born in Dacca, India in 1922. He joined Jamaat-e-Islami in 1954 and soon became one of the party's leaders. He was imprisoned when Ayub Khan banned Jamaat-e-Islami in 1964 but was released after eight months and later started a successful popular movement to force Ayub Khan to allow democratic elections.
Bangladesh Liberation War edit
During the Bangladesh Liberation War, Azam and Jamaat-e-Islami supported the Yahya Khan-lead government in their efforts to prevent Bangladesh from seceding from Pakistan. He played a central role in the formation of the East Pakistan Central Peace Committee and drew up a list presented to the committee of Bangladeshi intellectuals to be killed. He was also involved in the mobilization of the militias that carried out the campaign of genocidal rape against Bengalis during the war.
War crimes trial edit
On 11 January 2012 Azam was arrested on charges of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity following the Bangladeshi government's renewed efforts to track down Pakistani war criminals. Due to his advanced age he was admitted to hospital before being deemed fit to stand trial.
Azam was charged with five counts of war crimes due to his involvement in the torture and murder of a police officer and multiple Bangladeshi civilians. He was convicted on all counts and sentenced to 90 years in prison, having been spared the death penalty due to his age. He later died in jail on 23 October 2014 after suffering a stroke.