Khokon Razakar to die

Staff Reporter :The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has awarded death punishment to Zahid Hossain alias Khokon Razakar, a BNP leader and mayor of Faridpur’s Nagarkanda municipality, for crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971.Keeping the verdict pending for seven months, the three-member tribunal headed by its chairman Justice M Enayetur Rahim, pronounced the verdict on Thursday noon in a crowded courtroom amid tight security in absence of the accused, as he is fugitive. “The convict will be hanged by neck until he is dead,” said the tribunal, merging 40 years’ rigorous imprisonment for other four counts of war crimes charges into the capital punishment. In the 109-page judgment, the ICT-1 awarded Khokon Razakar the capital punishment each on six counts of charges of crimes against humanity like murder, abduction, torture, rape, torching houses and temples, loot, forced conversion to Muslims from Hindus and deportation. It also sentenced the fugitive BNP leader to different terms of rigorous imprisonment on four other almost similar war crime charges. The tribunal, however, acquitted him of one charge only since the prosecution failed to prove it beyond reasonable doubt.With the pronouncement of the judgment against Khokon Razakar, the two ICTs have delivered 12 judgments since their formation in March 2010 and 2012 respectively. Zahid Hossain was indicted by the ICT-1 on October 9, 2013 in absentia, dismissing the discharge plea moved by the state-appointed defense counsel. The convict faced 11 counts of war crime charges like looting, arson, repression, conversion to Muslims from Hindus under duress, rape, killing and genocide in his area during the Liberation War in collaboration with the Pakistan occupation army.On June 23, 2013, the prosecution submitted to the tribunal formal war crime charges against him and produced 24 prosecution witnesses to prove the charges.The leader of Rajakar Bahini under Nagarkanda Police Station, Khokon Razakar took over after his brother ‘Razakar Zafar’ was shot dead by freedom fighters after they fought the Pakistani Army at Chandhat of Nagarkanda on May 29. He was a member of Ansar, who used his training to organise the Razakar Bahini in Nagarkanda. According to the investigation agency, Khokon Razakar, a close comrade of fugitive Maulana Abul Kalam Azad alias Bachchu Razakar, took part in an election campaign for a Jamaat-e-Islami candidate in 1970. Later, he joined BNP and became Nagarkanda upazila unit Vice President of the party. The 66-year old was elected the municipality mayor of Nagarkanda in 2011.Khokon Razakar is now living in Sweden. His wife Ambia Begum, sons Lenin and Palin live in the country but not in their Nagarkanda home. His eldest son Khairuzzaman Lincon is general secretary of BNP’s youth wing Juba Dal in Sweden. His daughter also lived in Stockholm.Advocate Mukhlesur Rahman Badal conducted the case for the prosecution while A Shukur Khan for the fugitive accused as state defense counsel.