Charges Against Kamaruzzaman, Abdul Alim
Hearing on discharge petitions continues
Defence counsels of Jamaat leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman and former BNP lawmaker Abdul Alim yesterday continued their arguments on the petitions that seek discharge of their clients from the charges of crimes against humanity committed in the Liberation War of 1971.
The three-member International Crimes Tribunal-2, headed by its Chairman Justice ATM Fazle Kabir, adjourned the proceedings against Kamaruzzaman till today and against Alim till tomorrow.
Placing his arguments, Abdur Razzaq, chief of defence counsels for the Jamaat leaders claimed that Kamaruzzaman was a 19-year-old higher secondary level student during the war, and the Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary general was being prosecuted for “political purpose”, as Jamaat had not cooperated with the party in power.
He also argued against the first charge of “conspiracy to commit genocide”, which said Kamaruzzaman delivered provoking speeches during the war, intending to destroy a “special group of people.”
“What did they [prosecution] want to mean by the special group of people?" Razzaq asked, saying that the prosecution had failed to identify the group.
About one incident under count two, “Genocide”, the defence counsel placed his argument over the statements of the three witnesses supporting the massacre.
According to the prosecution, around 120 people were killed in Shohagpur village of Nalitalbari during the war as per the instruction of Kamaruzzaman, he said, but none of the three witnesses mentioned Kamaruzzaman's name in this incident.
After the claim of the defence counsel, the tribunal drew his attention over the statement of another prosecution witness who said that he heard that under the instruction of Kamaruzzaman, Pakistani Army had committed the atrocities at Shohagpur.
Razzaq labelled that witness as a witness based on "hearsay". There is no “direct witness” in such a significant incident, he said.
When the tribunal asked if it is possible to have “direct witness” in the matter of instruction, Razzaq said someone should not be implicated in such a significant incident without any direct witness.
The court adjourned the case proceeding till 2:00pm today.
Kamaruzzaman, who is facing nine charges of crimes against humanity, was produced yesterday.
At the beginning of yesterday's proceeding, the BNP leader's counsel Tajul Islam placed his factual arguments on charges of crimes against humanity that Abdul Alim is seeking discharge from.
In many charges, the prosecution has failed to specify the date and time of the incidents, Tajul said, and therefore, as per the tribunal acts and rules of procedure, these charges could not be framed against Alim.
At one point of his argument, Tajul termed a charge “false” and said people, who brought the “false allegations”, should be prosecuted.
Yesterday he concluded his factual arguments on 28 incidents. The court adjourned the hearing till tomorrow.
Alim, also a former minister, is facing 74 charges of crimes against humanity he allegedly committed in the 1971 war. He was present in court yesterday.
Meanwhile, tribunal-2 deferred the date on charge framing hearing against Jamaat Secretary General Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid till today, following a time petition filed by the defence.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments