Sayeed Muhammad of DOT
A Bangladeshi-American descent has been arrested in Bangladesh for alleged war crimes, including “murder and rape”, during the country’s 1971 Liberation War with Pakistan.
The arrestee is Mohamed Jubair Monir, 62.Official documents purportedly show he was only 13 when Bangladesh was liberated, reports Al Jazeera.
His family also claims he did not live in the country for most of the duration of the war that had lasted for nine months, seeing three million people getting killed by the Pakistani occupation forces and their collaborators.
Monir was picked up by the police on December 19 from his house in a village in Sunamganj and is kept in Keraniganj jail on the outskirts of Dhaka.
According to his family, the arrest was made on political grounds after meeting a leader from the BNP, who contested the 11th national elections held on December 30.
“Monir has been swept up in the hysteria of the recent Bangladeshi election, which has been widely condemned for their irregularities and human rights violations,” said Jason Emert, the family’s lawyer.
“[He] is innocent of the crimes and must be released immediately. His politically motivated arrest is an affront to the already tarnished democratic process in Bangladesh.”