The International Crimes Tribunal on Thursday took cognisance of the first-ever charges of war crimes, pressed against the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami's detained nayeb-e-amir, Delwar Hossain Sayedee.
Sayedee is the first man who is now set to face charges of war crimes committed during the War of Independence in 1971.
The tribunal, better known as the war crimes tribunal, posted for August 10 the hearing of the framing of charges in the case, recorded as ICT Case-1/2011 against Sayedee.
The tribunal of Justice Nizamul Huq, Justice ATM Fazle Kabir and Judge AKM Zahir Ahmed asked Sayedee's defence counsels to receive the copy of the formal charges submitted against him, along with other documents of the case, from its registrar by July 19.
It also asked the prosecution to submit the copy of the formal charges and documents to the registrar in accordance with Rule 18(4) of the International Crimes Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2010 by July 17.
The rule reads, 'The chief prosecutor shall file extra copies of the formal charge and copies of other documents for supplying the same to the accused which the prosecution intends to rely upon in support of such
charges so that the accused can prepare his defence.'
In its order, the tribunal said that the materials of offences under Section 3(2) of the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973 against Sayedee are available in the formal charges and other documents, papers and evidence submitted by the prosecution in three DVDs.
'We also found the disclosure of the prima facie case against Sayedee,' said the tribunal chair.
The tribunal also rejected once again a petition filed by Sayedee seeking bail.
Moving the petition, defence counsel Tanveer Ahmed Al-Amin argued that Sayedee could be granted bail since he had no scope for intimidating the witnesses, as the tribunal has already taken cognisance of the charges and has amended its rules to make provisions for the protection of the victims and witnesses.
The tribunal also rejected the defence's plea for getting a copy of its order rejecting the bail prayer.
As the defence counsel argued that they should be given the copy to enable them to seek a review of the order, the tribunal's chair said they could file such a petition in accordance with the procedures followed by the lawyers in seeking review of the orders of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
While rejecting the bail prayer, the tribunal observed that the accused should not be granted bail at this stage of the proceedings as it had taken cognisance of the charges and fixed a date for the framing of charges which are grievous ones.
The grounds of age, health, ailments and treatment of Sayedee have also been considered by the tribunal while rejecting the earlier petitions seeking his bail, the tribunal observed.
The formal trial will commence with the framing of charges against Sayedee, said the tribunal's chair, Justice Nizamul Huq, during Thursday's hearing.
After submission of the formal charges on July 14, chief prosecutor Golam Arif Tipu told reporters that charges were pressed against Sayedee for committing offences under Section 3(2) of the Act.
The Section defines the crimes against humanity, crimes against peace, genocide and war crimes.
Tipu said that the investigators found no evidence that Sayedee had committed any 'crimes against peace' and accordingly no charge was pressed against him for that crime.
Charges have been pressed against Sayedee for all the other offences stipulated in the Section, mentioned Tipu.
The 4,074-page investigation report in 15 volumes — the 77-page investigation report in one volume that proposes formal charges and the 3,997-page case diary in 14 volumes — was submitted to the prosecution by the investigation agency on May 31.
Sayedee was arrested on 29 June, 2010 in a case filed against him for 'hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims'.
On 2 August, 2010, the tribunal ordered Sayedee's detention for his alleged involvement in war crimes in Pirojpur, his home district, where some 30,000 people were reportedly killed, and their bodies dumped into 12 mass graves.
Sayedee was directly involved in killing at least 50 people, robbing 35 houses and setting 146 houses on fire, according to the investigators.
The investigators visited Pirojpur and found evidence of murder, rape and genocide 'committed by Sayedee' in Pirojpur Sadar and Zia Nagar upazila in 1971, they said.
The investigators also found that Sayedee and another alleged war criminal had forced at least 150 Hindu businessmen and locals of Parerhat to convert to Islam with the help of the members of Parerhat's Shanti Committee (peace committee) and the Pakistani army.
Sayedee was also interrogated by the investigators in the safe house on May 12.
Apart from Sayedee, Jamaat's amir Motiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and assistant secretaries general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla, and Bangladesh Nationalist Party's standing committee member Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, also a lawmaker, have been detained on charge of committing war crimes, along with others.
All of them have been interrogated in the government's 'safe house' in Dhanmondi for a day each.
The tribunal on July 12 ordered the prosecution to submit the report of the investigation against Nizami, Mojaheed, Kamruzzaman and Quader Molla by August 1.
The tribunal, however, on March 31 granted bail to former BNP lawmaker and minister Abdul Alim on certain conditions.
Source : New Age
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