War Crimes Trial
Lawyers of Jamaat leaders complain to US official
Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Stephen J Rapp and lawyers of detained Jamaat leaders come out of a room at Rupashi Bangla Hotel after holding a meeting yesterday.Photo: STAR
Nine lawyers of detained top Jamaat-e-Islami leaders facing charges of crimes against humanity yesterday complained to a visiting US high-official about the 'embargo' by International Crimes Tribunal in hiring foreign lawyers in the dock. During their meeting with Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Stephen J Rapp at a city hotel, the lawyers hoped that Rapp would raise the issue when he meets Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other top government officials. Five Jamaat bigwigs including its chief Matiur Rahman Nizami and two BNP leaders are now in custody for their alleged involvement in genocide, arson, rape, lootings, and assisting the Pakistani occupation army during the Liberation War of 1971. “We have told him [Rapp] that the tribunal's criteria of taking permission from the bar council before joining the courtroom proceedings has created an embargo in bringing the foreign legal experts,” said M Tajul Islam, one of the lawyers. The Bangladesh Bar Council on July 23 had rejected an appeal from the lawyers to appoint foreign lawyers citing that the council cannot provide certificate to anyone other than Bangladeshi lawyers, as it requires passing examinations to obtain those certificates. During the one-hour meeting, the lawyers also told Rapp that the everyday proceedings inside the court should be recorded in English so that the foreign legal experts can have an idea about the whole process. Briefing reporters after the meeting at the hotel lobby, senior lawyer barrister Abdur Razzaq said they informed Rapp that the government has not followed most of the recommendations which Rapp had given regarding trial during his previous visit to Bangladesh. “We hope that he [Rapp] will convey these issues to the prime minister and the law minister during his meetings with them,” said Razzaq. “We also told him [Rapp] that what we want in the trial is justice,” he added.
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