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Yusufs war trial closed

Staff Correspondent
Three days after the death of "Razakar founder" and Jamaat-e-Islami leader AKM Yusuf, the International Crimes Tribunal-2 yesterday put an end to his trial, which was in its final stage.
Declaring the case closed, the tribunal said, "With the death of the accused [Yusuf], the rest of the proceedings have become redundant.
"...At the same time, this order does not amount to posthumous acquittal ofAKM Yusuf for crimes against humanity and genocide for which he was indicted."
The three-member tribunal led by Justice Obaidul Hassan with members Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Md Shahinur Islam also regretted the "sudden death" of Yusuf as it “deprived" him as well as the victims ofjustice.
The 88-year-old Jamaat nayeb-e-ameer died at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University on Sunday.
Yusuf, who was buried at his village home at Rajoir in Sharankhola of Bagerhat on Tuesday, had been facing 13 war crimes charges. The closing argument of his case was scheduled to start yesterday.
When the court sat at 11:15am yesterday, the prosecution prayed to the tribunal to proceed with Yusufs case, despite his death.
"The matter cannot be ended with his death," Prosecutor Syed HaiderAli said.
He appealed to the court to deliver a judgement or at least dispose of the case with some observations, terming it "a demand of the nation".
As the tribunal asked Haider to give instances of the continuation of trial from home and abroad even after the death of a lone accused, he cited the case of Slobodan Milosevic, former president of Yugoslavia, who died during
his ongoing trial at ICTY.
Although ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia) put an end to Milosevic's trial after his death in 2006, International Court of Justice (1CJ) announced the order [formal end to his trial] "ineffective", Haider said.
Besides, this case is not a usual one as the gravity of his [Yusuf] offences is very strong, he added.
Haider, however, said as per the domestic law, an accused gets discharged after hisorher death.
Saifiir Rahman, who was a counsel of Yusuf, said there was no way to proceed with the case after Yusufs death. "He [Yusuf] will be considered innocent after death."
The tribunal, in its order, said ICTY and ICJ are two different judicial forums and only the appeal chamber of ICTY can intervene over the order of ICTY trial chamber.
"In the absence of instances either domestic or international, we are not convinced with what has been submitted by the learned prosecutor," said Justice Hassan.
After a long delay, he said, the trial against Yusuf "significantly offered" the victims of 1971 a "fundamental occasion” to see and participate in "valid justice".
"We regret that the accused's sudden death has surely deprived not only him
but the victims and sufferers, who with the aspiration of getting justice narrated the enormous pains and horror they sustained resulting from serious systematic crimes, in the dock," said Justice Hassan.
"But with the death of the accused, the rest of the proceedings have become redundant," he said.
"However, the testimony of victims and sufferers, who came before the tribunal, shall ever be considered as a response to the legitimate needs of justice," Justice Hassan said.
The court asked the authorities concerned to preserve the case documents according to the procedure. It also asked the jail authority to submit Yusufs post mortem report immediately.
According to prosecution documents, Yusuf established the Razakar force, an auxiliary force of the Pakistani army, on May 5, 1971, at an Ansar camp on Khan Jahan Ali Road in Khulna with 96 Jamaat activists. He also named the force.
Yusuf landed in jail on May 12 last year, hours after Tribunal-1 took the charges against him into cognisance. Later, his case was transferred toTribunal-2.
A total of 27 prosecution witnesses including the investigation officer testified against Yusuf while his son Mahbubur Rahman testified as the lone defence witness.