Death row convict Qaisar’s appeal verdict on January 14

The appeal hearing of former state minister and death row convict Syed Mohammad Qaisar has been completed.

The verdict will be announced on January 14.

Qaisar was sentenced to death on December 23, 2014 for war crimes a during the 1971 Liberation War.

Qaisar, a Muslim League leader in 1971, was convicted for killing, looting, rape and genocide.

Qaisar was a well-known razakar of Habiganj and raised a local militia during the Liberation War, guiding Pakistani troops to villages to attack and abuse Hindus and supporters of Bangladesh’s Freedom Fighters.

Qaisar went into hiding after independence and resurfaced as a figure in Bangladesh politics in 1978.

He contested and won the Sylhet-17 constituency as an independent in the 1979 parliamentary polls.

Qaisar joined the BNP and eventually became the president of its Habiganj unit.

He later joined HM Ershad's Jatiya Party and won the Habiganj-4 constituency in 1988, becoming the Minister for State for Agriculture under the military dictator’s regime.

Source:Daily-Sun