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Amusing alibi plea

TUHIN SHUBHRA ADHIKARY
Convicted war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury had claimed repeatedly that he was not in Bangladesh during the Liberation War and hence there was no question of his being involved in war-time atrocities.
But his claims turned out to be wrong as International Crimes Tribunal-1 in its judgment yesterday noted that Salauddin was very much present in
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Chittagong during the Liberation War and was guilty of committing crimes against humanity and genocide there.
In the trial, Salauddin had produced an alibi that he was not in Bangladesh during the war as he had left for West Pakistan on 29 March 1971 and came back to Bangladesh on 20 April 1974. Four defence witnesses, including Salauddin, gave testimony on the alibi.
An alibi is a claim or piece of evidence that one was elsewhere when a criminal act is alleged to have taken place, according to legal experts.
In his testimony, the BNP lawmaker claimed that he had taken active part in the anti-Ayub movement in 1969 as well as in the noncooperation movement for the cause of the independence of Bangladesh.
Interestingly, Salauddin's father Fazlul Quader Chowdhury was the Speaker of the Pakistan National Assembly when Ayub Khan was president of Pakistan.
"Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, the then preliberation hero, has surprisingly stated that instead of
joining the War of Liberation, he left Dhaka on March 29 1971 for West Pakistan to take higher education there and he came back to Bangladesh on 20 April 1974," said the judgment.
It added: The accused proudly claims that he is not a Bangalee; therefore it can be presumed that the accused as a non-Bangalee might have gone to West Pakistan as his first home during the war.
"But the fact remains that the defence did not produce any travel or residential documents to show the date of the so-called visit to West Pakistan and staying therein during the War of Liberation of Bangladesh," read theverdict.
The court said the investigation officer of the case, Nurul Islam, has provided it with a report of Dainik Pakistan of September 29, 1971 with the headline "Son of Fazlul Quader wounded in bomb attack: driver shot dead."
The report had stated that 'miscreants' had carried out an attack by hurling a bomb at the carin wh ich the son of Fazlul Quader Chowdhury was present. "As a result the driver was killed while the
son of Fazlul Quader Chowdhury sustained severe injuries and was provided treatment in a hospital."
The investigation officer had also submitted a fortnightly report on the political situation for the second half of September 1971 from Special Branch, East Pakistan, Dacca, which was prepared on October 2, 1971 by MM Hossain, deputy inspector general of police, said the judgment.
The report, mentioned the verdict, had stated that on the evening of September 20, 1971, rebels fired at the car of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, son of Fazlul Quader Chowdhury, president, Pakistan Muslim League (PML) at Chandrapara, Chittagong. They also threw a hand grenade in front of the car. Salauddin Quader Chowdhury was injured and his driver was killed.
Besides, two prosecution witnesses SM Mahbub-Ul-Alam and Qazi Mohammad Nurul Afsar, who were among the attackers of Salauddin's car, also gave testimony narrating how they had carried out the attack.
The court said prosecu-
tion witness AKM Shafiullah testified that in 1971 he served at Chittagong Medical College Hospital and had treated Salauddin in late September that year. The witness also identified the accused at the dock.
The prosecution evidence, such as the report of Dainik Pakistan, SB report and Shafiullah's testimony are considered as most authentic and reliable evidence to hold that the accused was very much present in Bangladesh during the War of Liberation, said the judges.
"Thus, the above mentioned unshakeable evidence has totally destroyed the plea of alibi taken by the defence," they mentioned.
Moreover, said the verdict, at least 14 prosecution witnesses had testified that they saw accused Salauddin accompanied by Pakistan army soldiers and Razakars during committing genocide and other crimes.
"The evidence adduced by those eye-witnesses has been accepted as true and reliable. Thus, we hold that the plea of alibi taken by the defence in the instant case stands rejected," announced the court.