JURIST - Paper Chase: Bangladesh police arrest high-profile war crimes suspect

[JURIST] Bangladesh police on Sunday arrested Mir Kashem Ali for his alleged crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War [GlobalSecurity backgrounder]. Earlier that day the International Criminal Tribunal in Bangladesh (ICTB) [Facebook page] had issued an arrest warrant against the chairman of Diganta Media Corporation [Facebook page] who is also a senior leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) [GlobalSecurity backgrounder] party. With the arrest warrant, the court also ordered the police to present him to the court within 24 hours. He has been accused of being an auxiliary to the Pakistani armed forces and running a torture facility at the Dalim Hotel during the war. Ali's lawyers told that they will appeal to the tribunal for his bail.

He is the eighth high-profile leader who has been indicted for the crimes committed during the war. Last week, the ICTB indicted [JURIST report] former Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Abdul Alim on 17 counts of crimes against humanity, Bangladesh's national news agency reported. In May, the ICTB indicted [JURIST report] Matiur Rahman Nizami, the chief of the JI, and Abdul Quader Molla, Nizami's deputy, for alleged human rights atrocities committed during the war. During the same month, Ghulam Azam, former head of the JI, was indicted [JURIST report] by the ICTB for similar charges. He had been taken into custody [JURIST report] in January after his request for bail was denied.