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yesterday sought his bail and informed ICT-1 that his client intends to become a state witness in the crimes against humanity case filed over the 2013 Shapla Chattar crackdown.

The lawyer also told the tribunal that Jalil is suffering from cardiac complications and has already been diagnosed with seven blocks.

After reviewing his medical report, the tribunal observed that no critical condition had been mentioned by the doctor, adding that it would look into the matter.

In another development, the defence completed the cross-examination of Shafiqul Islam, a prosecution witness in a crimes against humanity case against 17 individuals, including former top officials and army officers linked to enforced disappearances, detention and torture at the Task Force for Interrogation (TFI) cell allegedly operated under Rab.

Defence counsel claimed that members of law enforcement agencies had seized some “jihadi” books from the witness at the time of arrest, but he denied the allegation.

The tribunal asked the defence what it meant by “jihadi books”, remarking that simply labelling Islamic books as jihadi was problematic.

The defence lawyer responded that the term appeared in the seizure list, which is why he used it.

The defence also claimed that the witness was a member of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JMB) and had links with its other members.

The witness denied the claims. The tribunal recorded both claims.