War crimes charges false
Claim Sayedee's lawyers
The war crimes charges against Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee have been grounded in a "false investigation report," said his counsels yesterday.
At a press briefing at Supreme Court Bar Association, Tajul Islam, a lawyer for the accused Jamaat leader, also said the prosecution had talked to a selected group of Awami League men in Pirojpur and made the probe report upon which the International Crimes Tribunal framed charges against Sayedee.
Twenty three people including eight of Sayedee's lawyers on December 2 visited some areas of Pirojpur to gather information about the alleged offences brought against Sayedee, he said.
But they failed to do so as the local administration did not assist them, Tajul said. Rather, they faced obstruction while collecting information.
He urged the tribunal and the administration to get an investigation into the allegations against Sayedee done by a neutral probe committee.
The tribunal on October 3 framed 20 accounts of war crimes against the Jamaat leader, including genocide, killing, abduction and torture committed during the 1971 Liberation War.
Asked about the claim of Tajul, Prosecutor Zead Al Malum told The Daily Star that defence lawyers' comments were not a matter of concern for them as the war crimes trial was proceeding in accordance with the law.
Munshi Ahsan Kabir and Tanvir Ahmed Al Amin, among other defence lawyers, were present at the press briefing.
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