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War Crimes Trial of 3 Jamaat Leaders

Key defence counsels skip proceedings

Staff Correspondent
The International Crimes Tribunal-1 yesterday reluctandy adjourned proceedings of three cases due to the absence of two senior defence counsels representing Jamaat-e-Islami leaders accused of crimes against humanity during the LiberationWar.
The defence counsels of Motiur Rahman Nizami, Muhammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Mollah were supposed to argue against the war crimes charges brought against the three before the tribunal.
However, proceedings were prematurely adjourned as Abdur Razzaq, the chief defence counsel of the Jamaat leaders, and Tajul Islam, another key counsel, were abroad.
The tribunal—the first of two courts formed to deal with crimes committed during the 1971 Liberation War-adjourned the sessions for over a week as the counsels would not be available until then.
Justice Md Nizamul Huq, chairman of the three-judge tribunal, however, reminded the defence that being abroad would not be accepted as grounds for adjournment and that the tribunal was “compelled” to adjourn the proceedings considering the convenience of the defence.
The first item on yesterday's agenda was the indictment hearing of Jamaat chief Motiur, who is facing 15 charges of crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the Liberation War.
Munshi Ahsan Kabir, a defence counsel for another accused Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, stood before the three-member judge panel and said the defence was not ready for the first item on the agenda.
He said Tajul Islam, the leading defence counsel for Nizami, was in London and prayed for adjournment until Tajul was available, which is after April 5.
The proceedings against the Jamaat chief were earlier adjourned on March 27 as Tajul Islam was abroad.
Justice Nizamul Haq then said if the judges can sit at the tribunal during the vacation period of High Court, why not the lawyers? “It seems the vacation is only for the lawyers."
The tribunal then adjourned the proceedings against the Jamaat chief until April 8.
Ahsan Kabir then began reading out a petition seeking discharge of Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, another Jamaat-e-Islami leader facing nine war crimes charges at the tribunal.
No allegations were brought against the Jamaat assistant secretary general for 40 years until the trial began, he said in the application, adding that his client was facing trial only because of his political position.
The defence counsel then told the tribunal that he could not place argument supporting the discharge petition as he only read out the application on behalf of chief defence counsel Abdur Razzaq.
He said Razzaq was outside the country and sought adjournment until the chief Jamaat counsel returned on April 9.
“Being abroad would not be counted as grounds for adjournment,” Justice Nizmaul Huq told the counsel. “Only sickness of lawyers will be considered as a reason of adjournment.”
The proceedings against the Jamaat assistant secretary general were adjourned until April 10. On March 29, proceedings against Kamaruzzaman were deferred to yesterday after the defence prayed for time to prepare their arguments.
Farid Uddin Khan, defence counsel for another Jamaat assistant secretary general Abdul Quader Mollah, presented an application for discharging Quader from the charges of crimes against humanity.
The counsel said the prosecution had failed to bring specific charges against the Jamaat leader.
The charges say that Quader Mollah was involved in the killing of thousands of people, among other atrocities committed, in Dhaka's
Kalyanpur and Mohammadpur area during the Liberation War, he said.
However, no names of victims or killers were mentioned in the formal charges, the counsel added.
After presenting the application, Farid said he could not argue supporting the petition as it was prepared under the leadership of defence counsel Ab dur Razzaq.
He too prayed for adjournment until Razzaq returned.
Tribunal chairman Justice Nizamul Huq then said the situation presented the tribunal with a “technical obstacle” as it has no other cases this week except for the proceedings against Jamaat leader Mojaheed and indictment order of BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury on April 4.
Farid Uddin Khan then told the tribunal that they would not seek any more time in future.
Prosecutor Mohammad Ali then reminded the tribunal that the proceedings against Quader Mollah have been adjourned several times before due to lack of preparation on the part of the defence.
On March 28, proceedings against the Jamaat leader were adjourned until yesterday as the defence were not prepared to place their arguments on that day.
Justice Nizamul Huq then said court proceedings had been adjourned several times before considering the problems of the defence. But the defence should also understand the situation of the court, he said.
The tribunal then adjourned the hearing until April 9.
“We are compelled to allow the adjournment although we are reluctant to do so,” said the tribunal chairman.