A look at the convicts’ wealth
The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has sentenced Obaidul Quader, general secretary of the banned Awami League, and six other senior leaders of the party and its affiliated student and youth wings to death, after finding them
guilty of crimes against humanity linked to last year’s deadly crackdown on the July uprising.
The prosecution had brought four separate charges against each of the seven accused, and the tribunal found every charge proven, handing down a mix of death sentences and life imprisonment across the different counts for each defendant.
Besides Quader, those convicted are A F M Bahauddin Nasim, joint general secretary of the Awami League; Mohammad Ali Arafat, a former state minister for information and broadcasting; Sheikh Fazle Shams Parosh, chairman of the banned Jubo League; Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil, the Jubo League’s general secretary; Saddam Hossain, president of the banned Chhatra League’s central committee; and Sheikh Wali Asif Inan, the Chhatra League’s general secretary.
All seven remain fugitives, and because they were tried in absentia, the tribunal had appointed state-funded defense lawyers to represent them, as required by law.
Announcing the verdict at a press conference, Chief Prosecutor Aminul Islam said each of the four charges against every defendant had been proven beyond doubt, with each accused receiving both death sentences and life imprisonment across different counts.
Quader, the lead accused, was sentenced to death on three counts and to life imprisonment on the fourth. Nasim was acquitted on the second count, sentenced to life imprisonment on the first, and given death sentences on the third and fourth counts.
Arafat was acquitted on the third count, sentenced to death on the first and fourth counts, and given life imprisonment on the second.
Parosh was acquitted on the first count, sentenced to life imprisonment on the second, and given death sentences on the third and fourth counts. Nikhil received life imprisonment on the first count and death sentences on the second, third and fourth counts.
Hossain was sentenced to life imprisonment on the first and second counts and to death on the third and fourth, which were considered together, and Inan received the same pattern – life imprisonment on the first two counts and a death sentence on the combined third and fourth counts.
Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country on August 5 last year as a mass uprising forced her from power. The interim government that followed subsequently reconstituted the International Crimes Tribunal to pursue cases related to the crackdown on protesters.
Since being reformed, the tribunal’s two benches have delivered verdicts in seven cases, convicting 68 people in total. Of these, 22 – including Sheikh Hasina, Obaidul Quader and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan – have been sentenced to death. Eighteen of the 22 remain fugitives, while four are in custody.
Alongside the death sentences, the tribunal ordered the confiscation of half of the movable and immovable assets of five of the convicted leaders, directing that the seized properties be distributed among the families of July martyrs and injured individuals as compensation.
The five are Quader, Nasim, Arafat, Parash and Nikhil. The court’s order did not extend in the same terms to Saddam Hossain and Wali Asif Inan, the two Chhatra League leaders among the convicts, all seven of whom remain absconding.
According to affidavits the four filed ahead of the 2024 national election, their declared wealth varies sharply. Parash did not contest the election and so filed no affidavit, leaving no public record of his declared assets.
Quader, who contested from Noakhali-5 in the 2024 parliamentary election, declared movable assets worth approximately Tk3.23 crore and immovable assets worth around Tk51 lakh, putting his total declared wealth at roughly Tk3.74 crore. His affidavit listed Tk80,000 in cash, nearly Tk76 lakh in bank and financial institution deposits, and savings certificates worth close to Tk1.5 crore.
He also declared a car valued at Tk77.5 lakh, 25 bhori of gold worth Tk1.5 lakh, electronic items worth Tk9.20 lakh and furniture worth Tk8.75 lakh. His sole declared immovable asset was a five-katha plot in Uttara, Dhaka, valued at around Tk51 lakh.
Nasim’s declared wealth dwarfed that of his co-accused. The Dhaka-8 candidate reported movable assets of Tk29.79 crore and immovable assets of Tk5.40 crore.
His affidavit listed Tk7.69 crore in cash, Tk9.56 crore in bank deposits, and shares and bonds worth Tk11.14 crore, along with savings certificates valued at Tk60 lakh. He also declared two cars worth nearly Tk65 lakh, 25 bhori of gold worth Tk3.5 lakh, and electronics and furniture worth Tk10.25 lakh.
His immovable holdings included 139 decimals of agricultural land in Madaripur and Savar and 153 decimals of non-agricultural land spread across South Keraniganj, Madaripur and Gazipur, together valued at Tk2.24 crore, as well as a building in Uttara worth Tk2.71 crore and a flat in Mirpur worth Tk45 lakh.
Arafat, who won from Dhaka-17 before becoming state minister for information, declared movable assets of about Tk1.99 crore and immovable assets of Tk2.70 crore, the latter consisting entirely of an apartment in Gulshan-2.
His largest movable holding was in shares, with stakes in nine companies valued at approximately Tk1.45 crore. He also declared savings certificates worth Tk34 lakh, a car valued at Tk17.20 lakh, and electronics worth Tk3 lakh.
Nikhil, the former Dhaka-14 lawmaker, declared immovable assets of roughly Tk69.16 lakh, including nearly 6.5 acres of agricultural land worth Tk4.45 lakh, a further 57.50 decimals of agricultural land worth Tk25.52 lakh, a three-katha non-agricultural plot worth Tk4.71 lakh, and a house or apartment category asset valued at Tk34.47 lakh.
His movable assets, totalling Tk5.5 crore, included over Tk24 lakh in cash, a fixed deposit receipt worth Tk1 crore, shares worth Tk8 lakh in Nabil Properties and Tk62 lakh in Nabil Packaging and Printing, three vehicles valued at more than Tk1.14 crore, and electronics and furniture worth roughly Tk2 lakh.
