Ghulam Azam

Ghulam Azam (also known as Golam Azam) (Bengali: গোলাম আযম; born. 7 November 1922) is a retired Bangladeshi Islamist political leader. He was the Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh until 2000. Azam, whose political thought was significantly influenced by Syed Abul Ala Maududi, opposed the independence of Bangladesh before and during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War out of a desire to prevent further divisions of the Muslim community (Maududi opposed the partition of India for the same reason), and for fear of Indian hegemony. He is alleged to have led the formation of the Shanti Committee, Razakar and Al-Badr to thwart the Mukti Bahini that fought for the independence of the country. He and his supporters state, on the contrary, that he had nothing to do with the formation of such paramilitary groups.

In 1994, one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh made a remark in passing during the citizenship trial of Azam stating that the court did not find any direct proof of the war crimes attributed to Azam. But it was clarified by other judges that in fact, supreme court did not have any jurisdiction to investigate and try criminal offences like those. Azam has never before been tried in a court of law for his alleged war crimes. On 11 January 2012, he was arrested on charges of committing war crimes in Bangladesh Liberation War by the International Crimes Tribunal. The tribunal has been criticized for not adhering to international norms and although members of the European Parliament have welcomed the effort to seek justice for crimes committed in 1971, they also cautioned that they would like to "ensure that the trials reach the highest possible standards." On this count, a number of seasoned international lawyers and human rights organisations have expressed their concern over fairness of the trial procedures.