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Charges against Mojaheed 'vague'

Claims defence, petitions for discharging him of war crimes charges

Staff Correspondent
The defence of Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed yesterday placed an application seeking discharge of the Jamaat-e-Islami leader from the charges of crimes against humanity at the International Crimes Tribunal-1.
The application came in response to the prosecution's prayer to indict the Jamaat secretary general who is facing 32 charges of crimes against humanity com-
mitted during the Liberation War in 1971.
Munshi Ahsan Kabir, one of Mojaheed's counsels, while presenting the discharge petition, read out a statement from his client that said the Jamaat leader was as frightened as everyone else during the War.
Moreover, no pro-liberation statements were published in the media due to a strict censorship, the statement added.
The three-member tribunal — first of the two courts formed to deal with such crimes — will hear the rest of the defence's argument supporting the discharge application on April 11.
It will then decide about indicting Mojaheed. If indicted, the Jamaat leader will face trial at the tribunal. Otherwise he would be discharged.
Supporting the discharge application, Munshi Ahsan Kabir yesterday argued that the charges brought against his client are "vague".
The charges did not specify where or how the Jamaat leader used to conduct the atrocities that he is accused of committing during the War, he said.
"If he committed the atrocities, why did not anyone pursue him after the
War?" asked Kabir, claiming that Mojaheed did not go into hiding after the LiberationWar.
He also argued that none of the books on the LiberationWar mentions his client's name.
"There are five books on the history of the Liberation War in Faridpur district and none mentions my [client's] name," said Kabir. "This is absurd considering that he was apparently the second-in-command of the Al Badr."
Ahsan Kabir also referred to a line in the formal charges that said Mojaheed used to travel on a Pakistani army jeep with sixrazakars [collaborators] during the War.
"But who were those six razakars? What are their names? What was the number of the jeep? They said
nothing about these."
The defence counsel also said a case was filed under the Collaborators Act of 1972 against Maulana Ali Ahmed, father of Mojaheed and the then district Jamaat-e-Islami chief of Faridpur.
However, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman dropped the charges against Ali Ahmed for his "good deeds," said Kabir.
Bangabandhu would never forgive a person knowing that his son committed atrocities during the War, he added.
Kabir went on to say that the trial is a result of a political agenda, as most of the accused are from Jamaat.
"This case would not have been filed if I [his client] were not the secretary general of Jamaat," he said.
Earlier yesterday, the defence did not want to place arguments supporting the discharge application, as Abdur Razzaq, chief of defence, is now abroad.
They appealed for an adjournment until Razzaq was available after April 9.
Head of the tribunal Justice Nizamul Huq reminded the defence that the court on Sunday said no adjournment would be allowed.
Proceedings of all three cases were adjourned on Sunday as Razzaq and another lead defence counsel are currently abroad.
"We have come here with certain responsibilities. If we can show up, why can't the lawyers?" said the tribunal chairman.
Justice Nizamul Huq said a premature adjournment
yesterday would mean that the tribunal would have a free calendar till Sunday next week except for an order tomorrow on whether or not to indict BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, another war crimes accused.
However, the defence meekly continued its appeal for adjournment saying Abdur Razzaq is set to place the important law points of the discharge petition.
The tribunal then asked the defence to at least begin the arguments on the factual parts of the petition so that Razzaq can place the concluding arguments.
The hearing on charge framing against the Jamaat secretary general was later adjourned untilApril 11.
Mojaheed was produced before the court yesterday. He is among six Jamaat and two BNP leaders who are facing war crimes charges at the tribunal.