No compensation received for enforced disappearance, Azmi tells tribunal

Brigadier General (retd) Abdullahil Aman Azmi, son of late Jamaat-e-Islami chief Ghulam Azam, said he did not receive any compensation from the army for his alleged enforced disappearance during cross-examination at the tribunal today (13 April).

He made the statement while testifying in a case over enforced disappearance and torture at the Joint Interrogation Cell (JIC), heard by International Crimes Tribunal-1. 

The cross-examination was conducted by defence counsel Azizur Rahman before a two-member bench led by Justice Md Shafiul Alam Mahmud.

During the hearing, Azmi said an air conditioner was installed in the room where he was held after he fell seriously ill nearly seven years into his detention.

He said the room measured around 21 by 17 feet and the air conditioner was installed on 8 June 2023. 

“I had become critically ill on 6 June. The AC was installed on a doctor’s advice,” he told the tribunal, adding that he had stayed in a room without air conditioning for years. 

“They used to say, ‘we have to keep you alive,'” he said.

He said he had earlier provided details of the room in a court of inquiry.

During cross-examination, defence counsel Azizur Rahman claimed that Azmi had received compensation from the army for his disappearance. Azmi rejected the claim. “I did not receive any compensation,” he said.

He said he had filed a writ petition with the High Court challenging his dismissal from service, but the petition was later rejected.

Azmi also confirmed that he gave a statement to a court of inquiry after his release in late August 2024, but said he did not know whether any action had been taken.

The case involves allegations of enforced disappearance and torture during the previous government’s tenure. A total of 13 people, including former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, have been accused in the case.

Of them, three are currently under arrest and were produced before the tribunal from a sub-jail in Dhaka Cantonment today.

The arrested accused are former DGFI officials Major General Sheikh Md Sarwar Hossain, Brigadier General Md Mahbubur Rahman Siddique, and Brigadier General Ahmed Tanvir Mazahar Siddique.