Motiur Rahman Nizami was the president of the then Jamaat student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha (now Islami Chhatra Shibir) that turned into the Pakistan army’s infamous auxiliary force Al Badr in 1971.
The tribunal found the Jamaat chief to be criminally responsible for the execution of leading secular intellectuals and conspiracy to commit war crimes.
One of the charges proved said that Nizami, as the key leader of the Al Badr killing squad, was complicit in the torture, murder, rape and the training given to local Pakistani collaborators who went on to commit crimes against humanity.
Nizami was also found guilty of heading the “Gestapo-like attacks” largely around Dec 14, 1971 to eliminate the top Bengali professionals and intellectuals just two days before Bangladesh won its independence on Dec 16.
The special court framed 16 charges against Nizami in 2012.
But it took around one-and-a-half years for the completion of the trial.
The Jamaat chief played a key role in forming the four-party alliance ahead of the 2001 election and led his party to taste state power along with their key ally the BNP.
