Defence to appeal
Terming the International Crimes Tribunal-2 verdict against Jamaat-e Islami leader Abdul Quader Mollah “a perverse judgmentâ€, the defence counsels yesterday said they will appeal against the conviction to the Supreme Court.
“We believe that the judgment…will be completely reversed by the Supreme Court,†Abdur Razzaq, chief of the defence team, told a press briefing at his Nayapaltan chamber.
Tribunal-2 yesterday sentenced Mollah to life imprisonment for committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.
Razzaq said, “There is not an iota of evidence on record to warrant a conviction of Abdul Quader Mollah, let alone a life imprisonment.†The prosecution has failed completely to establish the six charges against Mollah, he claimed.
The chief defence lawyer said the tribunal passed the judgement relying upon the depositions of only 12 prosecution witnesses, the majority of whom were "hearsay witnesses" and beneficiaries of the present regime.
“We believe that the credibility of each and every single prosecution witness has been successfully destroyed by rigorous cross examination by the defence.â€
Although the defence was allowed to produce only six witnesses, it is clear from their depositions that Mollah was not in Dhaka but in Faridpur in 1971, he said, but the tribunal ignored the evidence of the defence witnesses and convicted Mollah for atrocities committed by the Bihari community in Mirpur in 1971.
He also said, “It is difficult to see how Abdul Quader Mollah can be convicted of commission of atrocities as an Al Badr member in April 1971 when it is the Prosecution case that the Al-Badr force was raised in May 1971.â€
As the verdict was pronounced, Quader Mollah rose to his feet and shouted Allahu Akbar. "It is injustice to me,†he said.
Mollah's eldest son Hasan Jamil, who was present during the verdict's pronouncement, said, “We are frustrated. We expected that my father would be acquitted, as the prosecution failed to prove the charges through documents.â€
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments