Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Dr. Shafiqur Rahman has announced that he will voluntarily surrender on February 25 to protest the continued imprisonment of party leader ATM Azharul Islam.

In a verified Facebook post on Thursday, Dr. Rahman said that despite the release of other national leaders, ATM Azharul Islam remains in prison, facing what he called "injustice and oppression."

He said that he could no longer remain outside while Azharul Islam was incarcerated. 

"We have given the government enough time. In protest of this injustice and demanding his release, I will present myself at the court premises on February 25 to be arrested," he wrote.

Dr. Rahman also urged the law and home ministries to take necessary steps for his arrest, assuring them of his presence at the designated location on the scheduled date.

The International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Azharul to death on Dec 30, 2014, in a case of crimes against humanity in 1971.

Then, the Appellate Division upheld the death sentence in its verdict on Oct 31, 2019.

Azharul filed a plea with the Appellate Division on Jul 19, 2020, seeking a review of the verdict. The hearing of which will be held on Feb 20.

Two days earlier, at a rally in Cumilla, Taher had also said: "Indian agents have infiltrated this government as well.

“Those who continue to uphold India's hegemony through conspiracies will face a fate worse than Sheikh Hasina's."

BDST: 1905 HRS, FEB 20, 2025
MSK/SMS