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Absentee witnesses kept at ’safe house’

Claims Sayedee's counsel; ICT summons all staff of the house

Staff Correspondent
The defence of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee yesterday said the 15 witnesses the prosecution had claimed to be too sick or missing had actually stayed at the prosecution witness' “safe house” in the capital.
The defence even submitted three logs of witnesses entering, leaving and having meals at the house.
Terming the defence claim serious, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 yesterday ordered all officers and staff of the house to appear before it on June 7.Jamaat Nayeb-e-Ameer Sayedee is facing 20 counts of crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War.
The prosecution was supposed to have 68 witnesses testify against Sayedee. However, on March 20, it said it would not be possible to produce 46 prosecution witnesses against Sayedee as the remaining witnesses were either very sick or missing. The prosecution asked the court to accept the witness' statements to the investigation officer of the case as depositions before the court.
The prosecution had also said 19 of those who could not be produced before the court were key eyewitnesses to Sayedee's crimes.
The tribunal on March 29 accepted the statements of 15 prosecution witnesses, out of the 46, as evidence against Sayedee.
However, the defence filed a review petition against the court rule on accepting those statements as evidence.
Yesterday, during hearings on the review petition, the defence came up with the claim that those witnesses had actually stayed at the prosecution house for witnesses and had not been missing.
The tribunal headed by Justice Md Nizamul Huq ordered investigation officer of the case Helal Uddin to bring the officials and employees of the house before the tribunal on June 7 to respond to questions from the tribunal.
The tribunal said it was a "serious claim” and that “it needs to be settled”.
At the end of the day defence counsel Abdur Razzaq told newsmen that defence had provided the court with evidence supporting their claim.
Prosecutor Md Haider Ali, however, told reporters that he was not at all wor-
ried about the defence claim as everything would be clear after the prosecution submitted its documents against the claim.
TWO WITNESSES CALLED BACK
The tribunals yesterday allowed re-crossexamination of two prosecutionwitnesses.
The defence on May 29 appealed to the tribunal to call back witnesses Mahbubul Alam Hawlader, Ruhul Amin Nobin and Manik Posari so that it could ask them more questions on evidence submitted by the last prosecution witness.
The court said it found no grounds on which prosecution witness Ruhul Amin Nobin could be called back to the tribunal.
It asked the defence to deposit to the court Tk 5,000 by June 15 as expenses for the witness' transport, lodging and meals.
The defence had earlier agreed to pay for these expenses.