Former Jamaat chief indicted for 1971 Bangladesh war crime

A special Bangladeshi tribunal on Sunday indicted a 89-year-old former chief of a fundamentalist party for committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, months after he was arrested to face trial.

"The International Crimes Tribunal indicted Prof Ghulam Azam for five types of crimes he committed during 1971 Liberation War" fighting with the Pakistani troops, prosecuting lawyer Syed Rezaur Rahman told PTI.

The indictment came as the former chief of fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami appeared at the court from Dhaka central jail under heavy security escort.

The wheelchair-bound Jamaat leader has been indicted for conspiracy, planning, incitement, complicity and murder during the nine-month war.

The three-judge panel headed by Justice Md Nizamul Huq set June 5 for starting trial against Azam, who pleaded not guilty after the charges were read out to him.

The International Crimes Tribunal was set up on March 25, 2010, to try crimes against humanity during the war.

According to the Bangladeshi authorities, up to three million people were killed in the bloody war.