& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Trial of Pilkhana Massacre

ASK worried over govt decision

Staff Correspondent
Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), a human rights organisation, yesterday expressed concern over the reported government decision to try the persons who were directly involved in the Pilkhana massacre under the army act and to try others in the same case under the BDR act
It urged the government to seek Supreme Court (SC) consent on all the issues regarding the process of the trial of the killers at BDR headquarters, saying that the decision to seek the SC opinion on some specific issues is praiseworthy.
A statement signed by Md Nur Khan, acting executive director of ASK, said the levels of the offences against any accused are determined on the basis of witness and evidence, not on the basis of only the investigation.
It said separating the offenders into two divisions before holding the triil 'is, dn the one hand, a clear violation of the existing laws, and, on the other hand, is against the constitutional provision- equality in the eye oflaw'.
ASK has come to know through its own inquiry, from the newspaper reports and talking to relatives of the detained BDR members, that many BDR jawans were not produced before the court within 24 hours after their arrest as per constitutional provision, rather they were shown arrested after long period of detention.
“Statements of the BDR men were recorded during the period between the times of their arrest and the showing them arrested. These statements will not be acceptable as per the laws and will later be questioned," it added.
It said no accused can be punished on the basis of the statements. "During the trial of the case, the court will examine whether those statements were recorded as per the existing laws and the accused support the statements and other things."
The statement further said that it is examined at the court whether any accused supports the recorded statements of another accused.
“But these legal rules of examining the statements of the accused are not followed under the army act and as a result, there is an apprehen-siortofthe miscarriage of justice,-it added.
ASK said justice means that original offenders cannot go unpunished and any innocent person should not be punished.
“Pilkhana massacre is undoubtedly an unprecedented offence and the persons involved in the killings must be given exemplary punishment The government must be cautious that fair justice is ensured in holding the trial in a hurry,"it said.