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{{Short description|War criminal convicted of killing Bengali intellectuals}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin
| image =
| image_size =
| native_name = চৌধুরী মঈনুদ্দীন
| native_name_lang = bn
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1948|11|27|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[East Bengal]] (now [[Bangladesh]])
| occupation =
| known_for = * Convicted of [[1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals]]<ref name="telegraph1"/>
* Former chairman of the East London Mosque<ref name=Independent-0011>{{cite news |title=UK Muslim leader Chowdhury Mueen Uddin sentenced to death in Bangladesh |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/uk-muslim-leader-chowdhury-mueen-uddin-sentenced-to-death-in-bangladesh-8919895.html |newspaper=The Independent |location=London |date=3 November 2013 |access-date=5 November 2022}}</ref>
* Former Chairman of [[Muslim Aid]]<ref name="muslimaid"/>
* Former director of United Kingdom's [[National Health Service]]<ref name=Gallows/>
| criminal_charge = 16 counts, including [[1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals]]<ref name=DT-13/><ref name=DT-may2>{{cite news |title=Arrest warrant against 2 al-Badr operatives issued |url=http://www.dhakatribune.com/law-amp-rights/2013/may/02/arrest-warrant-against-2-al-badr-operatives-issued |newspaper=Dhaka Tribune |date=2 May 2013 |access-date=15 November 2022}}</ref><ref name="daily-sun1">{{cite news |date=16 April 2012 |title=ICT issues arrest order against Mueen, Ashrafuzzaman |url=http://www.daily-sun.com/details_yes_03-05-2013_ICT-issues-arrest-order-against-Mueen,-Ashrafuzzaman_485_1_2_1_0.html |newspaper=[[Daily Sun (Bangladesh)|Daily Sun]] |location=Dhaka |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104105107/http://www.daily-sun.com/details_yes_03-05-2013_ICT-issues-arrest-order-against-Mueen%2C-Ashrafuzzaman_485_1_2_1_0.html |archive-date=4 November 2013 |access-date=20 July 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| criminal_penalty = Death sentence given ''in absentia'' by [[International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh)|ICT]]
| criminal_status =
}}

'''Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin''' ({{lang-bn|চৌধুরী মঈনুদ্দীন}}; born 27 November 1948), is a [[War crime|war criminal]] convicted for the [[1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals|killing of Bengali intellectuals]] in collaboration with the [[Pakistan Army]] during the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]].<ref name="telegraph1">{{cite news |last=Gilligan |first=Andrew |date=16 April 2012 |title=Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin to be charged with war crimes |url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/andrewgilligan/100151195/chowdhury-mueen-uddin-to-be-charged-with-war-crimes-5/ |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160217105313/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/andrewgilligan/100151195/chowdhury-mueen-uddin-to-be-charged-with-war-crimes-5/ |archive-date=17 February 2016 |url-status=dead |access-date=17 October 2022}}</ref><ref name=NYT>{{cite news |title=NY Times finds journalist link to intellectuals' massacre |url=http://www.clickittefaq.com/more-stories/ny-times-finds-bengali-journalist-link-to-intellectuals-massacre/ |newspaper=[[The Daily Ittefaq]] |date=13 December 2012 |access-date=5 November 2013 |archive-date=23 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923204725/http://www.clickittefaq.com/more-stories/ny-times-finds-bengali-journalist-link-to-intellectuals-massacre/ |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="theindependentbd">{{cite news |title=ICT-2 to pass order on Chy Mueen, Ashraf on May 2 |url=http://theindependentbd.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=166846:ict-2-to-pass-order-on-chy-mueen-ashraf-on-may-2&catid=172:miscellaneous&Itemid=202 |newspaper=[[The Independent (Bangladesh)|The Independent]] |location=Dhaka |date=29 April 2012 |access-date=2 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105044442/http://theindependentbd.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=166846%3Aict-2-to-pass-order-on-chy-mueen-ashraf-on-may-2&catid=172%3Amiscellaneous&Itemid=202 |archive-date=5 November 2022}}</ref><ref name="thedailystar2">{{cite news |title=Charges against Mueen, Ashraf accepted |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/charges-against-mueen-uddin-ashrafuzzaman-accepted/ |newspaper=[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]] |date=2 May 2013 |access-date=2 May 2022}}</ref> After the liberation of Bangladesh, Chowdhury escaped from Bangladesh and took British citizenship. He has been a [[fugitive]] absconding in the UK ever since.<ref name=citizen /><ref name="DT3"/>

Chowdhury is a founder of the [[Islamic Forum of Europe]], believed to be an extremist organisation<ref>Andrew Gilligan, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100315151035/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/7437197/Backlash-at-the-mosque.html Backlash at the mosque], ''The Daily Telegraph'', 13 March 2010</ref><ref>[[Andrew Gilligan]], "[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/mar/04/islamic-forum-europe-dispatches-gilligan IFE: not harmless democrats]", ''The Guardian'', 4 March 2010</ref> and a [[trustee]] and former chairman of [[Muslim Aid]],<ref name="muslimaid">{{cite web |url=http://www.muslimaid.org/index.php/about-us/governance |title=Governance |publisher=[[Muslim Aid]] |access-date=14 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606041640/http://www.muslimaid.org/index.php/about-us/governance |archive-date=6 June 2022}}</ref><ref name="bbc">{{cite news |last=Scott-Joynt |first=Jeremy |date=15 October 2003 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3186840.stm |title=Charities in terror fund spotlight |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref><ref name="islamist">{{cite book |last=Husain |first=Ed |date=2009 |title=The Islamist: Why I Became an Islamic Fundamentalist, what I Saw Inside, and why I Left |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-eoBP10xBDIC&pg=PA29 |publisher=Penguin Books USA |pages=29– |isbn=978-0-14-311598-4}}</ref> and a director of Muslim spiritual care provision in the United Kingdom's [[National Health Service]] (NHS).<ref name=Gallows>{{cite news |title=Gallows for Mueen, Ashraf |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/gallows-for-mueen-ashraf/ |newspaper=[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]] |date=3 November 2022}}</ref>

On 3 November 2013, the [[International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh)|International Crimes Tribunal]] (ICT), established by the [[Government of Bangladesh|Government]] of [[Bangladesh]] to investigate [[War crime|war crimes]] and [[Crimes against humanity|crimes against humanity]] committed during 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, sentenced Mueen-Uddin, [[Trial in absentia|in absentia]], to death for killing 9 teachers of [[University of Dhaka|Dhaka University]], 6 journalists and 3 doctors in 1971.<ref name=DT-13>{{cite news |title=Hang Mueen, Ashraf |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/hang-mueen-ashraf/ |newspaper=[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]] |date=4 November 2013 |access-date=15 November 2022}}</ref><ref name="theindependentbd"/><ref name="thedailystar2"/><ref name="bdnews24">{{cite news |last1=Niloy |first1=Suliman |last2=Haq |first2=Quazi Shahreen |last3=Dhrubo |first3=Golam Mujtoba |title=Ashraf, Mueen to hang for mass murder |url=http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2013/11/03/ashraf-mueen-to-hang-for-mass-murder |newspaper=[[Bdnews24.com]] |date=3 November 2013 |access-date=3 November 2022}}</ref> Mueen has remained in the United Kingdom since leaving Bangladesh shortly after its independence in 1971.<ref name=DS-4th>{{cite news |title=Killers at home turn leaders abroad |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/killers-at-home-turn-leaders-abroad/ |newspaper=[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]] |date=4 November 2013 |access-date=5 November 2022}}</ref> Mueen-Uddin denies the charges.<ref name=TD-001>{{cite news |title=Bangladesh convicts UK-based Muslim leader for war crimes |url=http://dawn.com/news/1053843/bangladesh-convicts-uk-based-muslim-leader-for-war-crimes |newspaper=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]] |date=3 November 2013 |access-date=15 November 2022}}</ref>

He has been accused of war crimes prior to the establishment of the ICT. In 1972, ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that he "has been identified as the head of a secret, commando-like organization of fanatic Moslems",<ref name=NYT /> In 1995, a documentary film made by [[David Bergman (journalist)|David Bergman]], entitled ''War Crimes File'' was aired on British television channel [[Channel 4]] producing comprehensive evidence of his involvement and active participation in the [[1971 Bangladesh genocide]].<ref name=DT-0012>{{cite news |last=Sathi |first=Muktasree Chakma |date=4 November 2013 |title=UK documentary narrated Chowdhury Mueen's involvement |url=http://www.dhakatribune.com/law-amp-rights/2013/nov/04/uk-documentary-narrated-chowdhury-mueen%E2%80%99s-involvement |newspaper=[[Dhaka Tribune]] |access-date=15 November 2022}}</ref><ref name=DS-14>{{cite news |title=Defender of Justice |url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/magazine/2012/04/03/profile.htm |newspaper=[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]] |date=20 April 2012 |access-date=15 November 2022}}</ref>

==Career==
In 1971, Mueen-Uddin was a journalist at the ''Daily Purbodesh''. In 1972, ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that he "has been identified as the head of a secret, commando-like organization of fanatic Moslems",<ref name=NYT /> in connection with the [[Bangladesh liberation war]].<ref name="New York Times">{{cite news |last=Butterfield |first=Fox |date=3 January 1972 |title=A journalist is linked to murder of Bengalis |url=http://www.docstrangelove.com/uploads/1971/foreign/19720103_nyt_a_journalist_is_linked_to_murder_of_bengalis.pdf |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=8 February 2022}}</ref> He fled [[Bangladesh]] shortly after its independence in 1971, and went to the [[United Kingdom]] via [[India]], [[Nepal]] and [[Pakistan]]<ref name="thedailystar3">{{cite news |title=Ashraf, Mueen to hang for mass murder |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/bangladesh-to-seek-extradition-of-mueen |newspaper=[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]] |date=22 July 2013 |access-date=3 November 2022}}</ref><ref name=Telegraph2/> In the United Kingdom he was able to create a new life.<ref name="telegraph1"/><ref name= theindependentbd /> He was a special editor of the London-based weekly ''Dawat'' and a leader of the London-based Jamaat organisation Dawatul Islam.<ref name="Muktijuddha Chetana Bikash Kendra">{{cite book |last=Śarīpha |first=Āhamada |title=Genocide 1971, An Account of the Killers And Collaborators Genocide '71 |edition=5 |publisher=Muktijuddha Chetana Bikash Kendra |pages=185, 248}}</ref>

Mueen-Uddin is a director of Muslim Spiritual Care Provision in the United Kingdom's [[National Health Service]] (NHS), a member of Multi Faith Group for Healthcare Chaplaincy (MFGHC), and a trustee of [[Muslim Aid]].<ref name="Muslims in Britain">{{cite book |last=Gilliat-Ray |first=Sophie |date=2010 |title=Muslims in Britain |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=39pZYTUv-jMC&pg=PA173 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=173 |isbn=0-521-53688-X}}</ref><ref name="The Centrality of Religion in Social Life">{{cite book |last=Barker |first=Eileen |date=2008 |title=The Centrality of Religion in Social Life: Essays in Honour of James A. Beckford |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z3dgkh2NrvgC&pg=PA149 |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]] |page=149 |isbn=0-7546-6515-1}}</ref> He is currently a citizen of the UK.<ref name=citizen />

Since moving to the UK in the early 1970s, Mueen-Uddin has taken British citizenship and built a career as a community activist and Muslim leader. In 1989 he was a key leader of protests against [[Salman Rushdie]]'s novel, ''[[The Satanic Verses]]''. Around the same time he helped to found the extremist [[Islamic Forum of Europe]], Jamaat-e-Islami's European wing, which believes in creating a sharia state in Europe and in 2010 was accused by a Labour minister, Jim Fitzpatrick, of infiltrating the Labour Party. Tower Hamlets' directly elected mayor, Lutfur Rahman, was expelled from Labour for his close links with the IFE. Until 2010 Mueen-Uddin was vice-chairman of the controversial East London Mosque, controlled by the IFE, in which capacity he greeted Prince Charles when the heir to the throne opened an extension to the mosque. He was also closely involved with the Muslim Council of Britain, which has been dominated by the IFE. He was chairman and remains a trustee of the IFE-linked charity, Muslim Aid, which has a budget of £20 million. He has also been closely involved in the Markfield Institute, the key institution of Islamist higher education in the UK.<ref name="DT3">{{cite news |last=Gilligan |first=Andrew |title=Leading British Muslim leader faces war crimes charges in Bangladesh |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/bangladesh/9204831/Leading-British-Muslim-leader-faces-war-crimes-charges-in-Bangladesh.html |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=15 April 2012 |access-date=6 November 2022}}</ref>

==War crimes trial==
In 1995, a documentary film ''War Crimes File'' by [[David Bergman (journalist)|David Bergman]] was aired on British television channel [[Channel 4]] about the [[1971 Bangladesh genocide]]. In the film, Mueen-Uddin was accused of being a member of the pro-Pakistan paramilitary force [[Al-Badr (East Pakistan)|Al-Badr]] during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, and of being involved in war crimes.

In 2012, Bangladesh law minister [[Shafique Ahmed]] stated that Mueen-Uddin would be charged for war crimes.<ref name="zee1">{{cite news |title=UK Muslim leader faces war crime charges in B'desh |url=http://zeenews.india.com/news/south-asia/uk-muslim-leader-faces-war-crime-charges-in-b-desh_770186.html |newspaper=[[Zee News]] |date=16 April 2012 |access-date=14 April 2022}}</ref> However, the prosecution has delayed submitting charges.<ref name="dailystar1">{{cite news |last=Adhikary |first=Tuhin Shubhra |date=19 March 2013 |title=Prosecution moves at snail's pace |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/prosecution-moves-at-snails-pace/ |newspaper=[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]] |access-date=14 April 2022}}</ref> He is accused of being a top member of the notorious paramilitary force Al-Badr and of the fundamentalist [[Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami|Jamaat-e-Islami]] political party, which fought for the country to remain part of Pakistan.<ref name="telegraph2">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/bangladesh/10032961/British-Muslim-leader-Chowdhury-Mueen-Uddin-indicted-for-genocide-and-crimes-against-humanity.html |title=British Muslim leader Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin indicted for genocide and crimes against humanity |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=2 May 2013 |access-date=20 July 2022}}</ref> Mueen-Uddin has denied all allegations.<ref name="guardian1">{{cite news |last=Hussain |first=Delwar |title=Prosecute Bangladesh's war criminals |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/oct/07/bangladesh-war-crimes |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=7 October 2009 |access-date=14 April 2022}}</ref>

===Arrest warrant and extradition conditions===
On 2 May 2013, Bangladesh's [[International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh)|International Crimes Tribunal]] brought war criminal charges against Mueen-Uddin and [[Ashrafuz Zaman Khan]]. The United Kingdom does not have an [[extradition]] agreement with Bangladesh, and the UK was reluctant to extradite Mueen-Uddin without assurances of a fair trial, plus assurances that there would be no death penalty in the event of a guilty verdict.<ref name=citizen>{{cite news |title=Mueen-Uddin's extradition unlikely |url=http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2013/11/04/mueen-uddin-s-extradition-unlikely |newspaper=[[bdnews24.com]] |date=4 November 2022}}</ref> Although [[Scotland Yard]] said in the 1990s that Bangladesh had primary jurisdiction for prosecuting Mueen for the 1971 killings,<ref>{{cite news |last=Bergman |first=David |author-link=David Bergman (journalist) |title=Bangladesh: Tracking down the killers |url=http://www.sacw.net/article6146.html |newspaper=[[New Age (Bangladesh)|New Age]] |date=8 November 2013 |via=South Asia Citizens Web}}</ref> Britain could reconsider its decision to not prosecute.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bright |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Bright |title=Convicted in Bangladesh – what it means in the UK |url=http://www.thejc.com/comment-and-debate/columnists/113040/convicted-bangladesh-what-it-means-uk |newspaper=[[The Jewish Chronicle]] |date=7 November 2022}}</ref>

Both Mueen and Khan were charged with committing a war crime by [[1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals|killing 18 intellectuals]] who were Dhaka University Professors [[Ghyasuddin Ahmed]], [[Rashidul Hasan]], [[Anwar Pasha]], [[Faizul Mahi]], famous playwright and Professor [[Munier Chowdhury]], [[Mufazzal Haider Chaudhury]], [[Dr Abul Khair]], Dr [[Santosh Chandra Bhattacharyya]] and Dr [[Sirajul Haque Khan]], Professor of Cardiology [[Mohammed Fazle Rabbee]], eminent eye specialist [[AFM Alim Chowdhury]], Physician [[Mohammad Martuza]], Novelist and Journalist [[Shahidullah Kaiser]], Journalist and Poet [[Selina Parvin]], Journalists [[Serajuddin Hossain]], [[Syed Nazmul Haque]], [[ANM Golam Mostafa]], and [[Nizamuddin Ahmed]], in between 10 and 15 December 1971.<ref name=Gallows/><ref name="daily-sun1" /><ref name=DS-Tamanna>{{cite news |last=Khan |first=Tamanna |title=It was matricide |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/it-was-matricide/ |newspaper=The Daily Star |date=4 November 2013 |access-date=7 November 2022}}</ref> An arrest warrant also issued for them. Both of them was most wanted after Bangladesh liberation war. According to prob report ''<span dir="auto">Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin</span>'' was "operation-in-charge of Al-Badr".<ref name="theindependentbd"/><ref name="thedailystar2"/><ref name="banglanews24">{{cite news |date=2 May 2013 |title=Ashraf-Mueen face arrest warrant |url=http://www.risingbd.com/english/Ashraf-Mueen_face_arrest_warrant/2222 |newspaper=risingbd.com |location=Dhaka |access-date=2 May 2022}}</ref>

===Allegations from the relatives of the victims===
The widow of one victim, Dolly Chaudhury, claims to have identified Mueen-Uddin as one of three men who abducted her husband, [[Mufazzal Haider Chaudhury]], a prominent scholar of Bengali literature, on the night of 14 December 1971.<ref name="telegraph1" /> "I was able to identify one [of the abductors], Mueen-Uddin," she said in video testimony, seen by ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]''. "He was wearing a scarf but my husband pulled it down as he was taken away. When he was a student, he often used to go to my brother in law's house. My husband, my sister-in-law, my brother-in-law, we all recognised that man." Professor Chaudhury was never seen again.<ref name=DT3/>

The widow of another victim, claims that Mueen-Uddin was in the group that abducted her husband, Sirajuddin Hussain, another journalist, from their home on the night of 10 December 1971.<ref>{{cite news |date=16 April 2012 |title=War crimes probe targets 'butchers' |url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=230353 |newspaper=The Daily Star}}</ref> "There was no doubt that he was the person involved in my husband's abduction and killing," said Noorjahan Seraji. "I have waited 40 years to see the trial of the war criminals," said the widow, Noorjahan Seraji. "I have not spent a single night without suffering and I want justice."<ref name=DT3/>

One of the other members of the group, who was caught soon afterwards, allegedly gave Mueen-Uddin's name in his confession.<ref name=DT3/>

Another reporter on Purbodesh, Ghulam Mostafa, also disappeared. The vanished journalist's brother, Dulu, said he appealed to Mueen-Uddin for help and was taken around the main Pakistani Army detention and torture centres by Mueen-Uddin. Dulu Mostafa said that Mueen-Uddin appeared to be well known at the detention centres, gained easy admission to the premises and was saluted by the Pakistani guards as he entered. Ghulam was never found.<ref name=DT3/>

Mueen-Uddin's then editor at the paper, Atiqur Rahman, said that Mueen-Uddin had been the first journalist in the country to reveal the existence of the Al-Badr Brigade and had demonstrated intimate knowledge of its activities. After his colleagues disappeared, he said, Mueen-Uddin had asked for his home address. Fearing that he too would be abducted, the editor gave a fake address. Rahman's name, complete with the fake address, appeared on an Al-Badr death list found just after the end of the war. "I gave that address only to Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, and when that list appeared it was obvious that he had given that address to Al Badr," Rahman said in statements given to the investigators. "I'm sure I gave the address to no-one else." Rahman then published a front-page story and picture about Mueen-Uddin, who had by that stage left the city, naming him as involved in "disappearances."<ref name=DT3/><ref name=DhakaTribune>{{cite news |date=5 November 2013 |title=Media recognised this traitor much earlier |url=http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh-liberation-war/2013/nov/05/media-recognised-traitor-much-earlier |newspaper=Dhaka Tribune}}</ref>

This brought forward two further witnesses, Mushtaqur and Mahmudur Rahman, who claim they recognised the picture as somebody who had been part of an armed group looking for the BBC correspondent in Dhaka during the abductions. The group was unsuccessful because the BBC man had gone into hiding.<ref name=DT3/>

===Verdict===
On 3 November 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal – a special Bangladeshi court set up by the government – sentenced Mueen-uddin to death after the tribunal found him guilty ''in absentia'' of torture and murder of 18 intellectuals during 1971 [[Liberation war of Bangladesh]]. According to ''[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]]'', lawyers called no defence witnesses, whereas the prosecution brought in 25 witnesses, due to non-co-operation from Mueen-Uddin's family.<ref name=Gallows /><ref name="SkyNews1">{{cite news |title=Bangladesh Death Sentence For UK Muslim Leader |url=http://news.sky.com/story/1163212/bangladesh-death-sentence-for-uk-muslim-leader |publisher=Sky News |access-date=6 November 2022}}</ref> Those sentenced in absentia are not eligible to challenge the court's verdict.<ref name="bdnews24"/> Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin denied the charges in an interview aired by [[Al Jazeera]] in August 2013.<ref name=AlJazeera>{{cite news |last=Hull |first=Jonah |title=Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin: 'Not a war criminal' |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/2013/07/201371813054661892.html |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=3 November 2013 |access-date=9 November 2022}}</ref>

The tribunal also said that Mueen-Uddin sometimes carried out the murders, and sometimes instigated and encouraged them. They ruled that he and his allies had complete control over the [[Al-Badr (Pakistan)|Al Badr]] during the 1971 War.<ref name="bdnews24"/>

===Reaction of trial from defence===
However, the trial was criticised by [[Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami]], the party he was served and which opposed the creation of Bangladesh and took part in committing war crime in 1971, stated that the trials were politically motivated. They also accused the current government of trying to destroy the opposition party by sentencing its leadership to death.<ref name="SkyNews1" /><ref name="Rubin2010">{{cite book |last=Rubin |first=Barry A. |date=2010 |title=Guide to Islamist Movements |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wEih57-GWQQC&pg=PA59 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |page=59 |isbn=978-0-7656-4138-0 |access-date=6 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |script-title=bn:ভারতীয় চক্রান্ত বরদাস্ত করব না |trans-title=We will never tolerate Indian conspiracy |language=bn |newspaper=[[The Daily Sangram]] |date=13 April 1971}}</ref><ref name="Fair2010">{{cite book |last=Fair |first=C. Christine |title=Pakistan: Can the United States Secure an Insecure State? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RC-ANwtR_SoC&pg=PA22 |date=16 June 2010 |publisher=Rand Corporation |pages=21–22 |isbn=978-0-8330-4807-3 |access-date=6 March 2022}}</ref> However, the political motivation against Mueen-Uddin is unclear as he is living in the UK for more than 40 years. Mueen-Uddin's Legal Counsel described the verdict as ''"farcical"''. He further alleged ''"serious judicial and prosecutorial misconduct and the collusion of the Government with members of the judiciary and prosecution"'', and condemned the entire trial as a "show trial".<ref name="SkyNews1" />

John Cammegh, a barrister in chambers at 9 Bedford Row, London, which represents Mueen-Uddin,<ref name="9BRI">{{cite web |url=http://9bri.com/chowdhury-mueen-uddin-expected-to-be-tried-in-absentia/ |title=Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin Expected to be Tried in Absentia |website=9 Bedford Row International}}</ref> in an op-ed piece, stated that the trial ''"made mockery of that principle ''[of international law], and that it served as ''"a terrible warning of the way in which the ideals of universal justice and accountability can be abused"''.<ref name="NYT2">{{cite news |last=Cammegh |first=John |date=17 November 2011 |title=In Bangladesh: Reconciliation or Revenge? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/18/opinion/in-bangladesh-reconciliation-or-revenge.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=6 November 2022}}</ref>

===Reaction from victims' relatives about verdict===
Relatives of the victims voiced their satisfaction at the verdicts. Professor Rashiddudin Ahmad, whose brother Giasuddin Ahmed, a university teacher at the time was amongst those killed, said: ''"We have waited 40 years for this. It is some sort of justice, even though the sentence may never be carried out."''<ref name=Telegraph2>{{cite news |last=Nelson |first=Dean |date=3 November 2013 |title=British Muslim leader sentenced to death in Bangladesh |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/bangladesh/10423362/British-Muslim-leader-sentenced-to-death-in-Bangladesh.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=7 November 2022}}</ref>

===Europe's reaction to the trial===
The UK said on 22 January 2013 that it supported the war crimes trial in Bangladesh but always opposed capital punishment while Germany and France termed the trial an internal affair of the country. They gave their reactions a day after the International Crimes Tribunal-2 awarded death sentence to [[Abul Kalam Azad (politician)|Abul Kalam Azad]] for genocide and crimes against humanity during the Liberation War.<ref>{{cite news |date=23 January 2013 |title=It's internal affair |url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=266339 |newspaper=The Daily Star}}</ref>

Warren Daley, spokesperson of the British high commission in Dhaka, said: ''"The UK has made clear its support for Bangladesh's efforts to bring to justice those accused of atrocities committed in 1971. Along with our EU partners, we are however opposed to the application of the death penalty in all circumstances."''<ref name=DS2>{{cite news |title=US, UK unlikely to return Mueen, Ashraf |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/us-uk-unlikely-to-return-mueen-ashraf/ |newspaper=The Daily Star |date=3 November 2013 |access-date=7 November 2022}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Al-Badr (East Pakistan)|Al-Badr]], paramilitary wing of the West Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh Liberation War
* [[Razakars (Pakistan)|Razakars]], paramilitary force in East Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
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{{col-2}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110714081342/http://www.mfghc.com/about.htm About MFGHC]. Multi-Faith Group for Healthcare Chaplaincy
* Ward, Stephen. [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/british-muslims-deny-war-atrocities-1617946.html British Muslims deny war atrocities]. ''[[The Independent]]''. 3 May 1995
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080907000904/http://islamonline.net/English/News/2004-12/19/article04.shtml Rising Unhappiness With Muslims in Europe: Poll]. ''Islam Online''. 19 December 2004
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* Hasan, Jamal. [http://www.aina.org/news/2007031715059.htm A Defiant Yet Brutal Face Of Islamic Fascism]. ''AINA''. 17 March 2007
* [https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2009/dec/09/corrections-clarifications Corrections and clarifications: Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin]. ''[[The Guardian]]''. 9 December 2009
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mueen-Uddin, Chowdhury}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi emigrants to England]]
[[Category:British people of Bangladeshi descent]]
[[Category:Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi journalists]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi people convicted of war crimes]]
[[Category:People sentenced to death in absentia]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi prisoners sentenced to death]]
[[Category:1971 Bangladesh genocide perpetrators]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to death by Bangladesh]]

Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin - Revision history

Bot at 23:40, 11 December 2022