The Appellate Division on Thursday upheld the death penalty of war criminal Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam for crimes against humanity.

A four-member Appellate bench, led by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, handed down the verdict, the UNB reported.

Earlier, the Appellate Division set Oct 31 for delivering the judgment on an appeal filed by the war criminal challenging his death sentence.

Concluding hearing on the appeal, a four-member Appellate Division bench on July 10 kept the verdict reserved for a later time.

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 sentenced Azhar, Jamaat’s assistant secretary general, to death on December 30, 2014, for crimes against humanity committed in Rangpur during the Liberation War.

He was found guilty of five of the six charges brought against him. Azhar moved the apex court on January 28 the following year.