Dhaka, July 30 (V7N) – The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has acquitted Mubarak Hossain, a former Awami League leader who had been sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal-1 in a case related to crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Liberation War.

A five-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, delivered the verdict on Wednesday (July 30), granting Mubarak Hossain's appeal seeking full acquittal. The court quashed the tribunal’s death sentence, effectively overturning the previous ruling.

On November 24, 2014, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 had found two out of five charges against Mubarak Hossain to be proven. He was sentenced to death by hanging for one charge and life imprisonment for the other. At the time, the tribunal stated that Mubarak was a member of the Razakar force in Brahmanbaria during the war.

Following the verdict, Mubarak Hossain filed an appeal seeking acquittal, which has now been upheld by the country’s highest court.

Mubarak Hossain had been active in politics and served as the Organizing Secretary of the Mogra Union unit of the Awami League in Akhaura upazila, Brahmanbaria, until his expulsion in 2012.

The acquittal marks a significant development in the country’s ongoing legal proceedings concerning war crimes committed during the 1971 Liberation War.

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