Bangladesh: ICT allows Azhar’s defence to produce 4 witnesses

Dhaka, July 8 (New Age): The International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Monday allowed four defence witnesses to defend detained Jamaat leader ATM Azharul Islam from a list of 15 DWs that the defence lawyer had earlier submitted. The tribunal asked the defence lawyer Md Abdus Sobhan Tarafder to submit by July 10 the list of the four DWs detailing their names and addresses and the specific charges against which they would testify. The defence lawyer while submitting the list of DWs wrote only the names and no other particulars of them. The tribunal also set July 13 to begin examination of the DWs. The tribunal passed the order after hearing from both the sides on the prosecution’s petition seeking cancellation of the list of the 15 DWs. Prosecutor Zead-Al-Malum pleaded to reject the list of the witnesses claiming that the defence submitted the list without following the law. Defence lawyer Abdus Sobhan Tarafder sought to allow to produce all the 15 witnesses for ends of justice. The tribunal, mentioning the fact that the defence lawyer had submitted the list of witnesses without their particulars, said the list should be rejected straight away. Even though, the tribunal said, it allowed four DWs in Azhar’s defence. A total of 19 prosecution witnesses were examined in the tribunal to prove all the six charges against the war crimes accused. Azhar has been facing the trial on charges of committing genocide, killings, abduction, torture, arson attacks and other crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in Rangpur.