Defence wants to record the testimony of 1,000-odd witnesses in support of BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury. It has already submitted a list of 1,153 witnesses to testify before the International Crimes Tribunal-1, though it is the tribunal which will fix the number of defence witnesses from whom it will take depositions. A large number of dignitaries, including two sitting Supreme Court judges, have been included in the list of 1,153 defence witnesses, Barrister Fakhrul Islam, counsel for Salauddin Quader, said on Saturday.
“We have included two Supreme Court judges — Justice Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan and Justice Shamim Hasnain — in our witness list. We are also expecting to produce, along with others, former minister Anwar Hossain Monju, professor Emajuddin Ahmed and educationist Badruddin Umar before the tribunal as defence witnesses,” he said.
A total of 41 prosecution witnesses, including investigation officer Nurul Islam, have given their deposition.
In addition, the tribunal-1 also accepted the statements of four other prosecution witnesses given to the investigation officer as their deposition against Salauddin Quader.
Educationist Dr Anisuzzaman, freedom fighter Sirajul Islam, alias Siru Bengali, and the victim of 1971 Nuton Chandra Singh’s son Profullo Ranjan Singh were among the prosecution witnesses against the BNP leader.
Defence witnesses will start giving depositions after the end of the cross-examination of investigation officer Nurul Islam. Earlier, the tribunal asked the defence to complete the cross-examination of the investigation officer on Sunday. But Fakhrul said it would not be possible for them as they could not ask any question to the investigation officer about one of the 23 charges against Salauddin Quader.
Apart from that, the tribunal might hear the habeas corpus petition on the detention of Salauddin Quader. The wife of Salauddin Quader filed the petitions on Thursday, challenging the detention order against the accused person.
“Mrs Chowdhury filed the petition on two grounds. Firstly, as per Article 153, the Constitution of Bangladesh came into force on December 16, 1972 and any act of Parliament is made under Article 80. So, as the incidents mentioned in the allegations took place in 1971, prosecution cannot be held under the International Crimes Act, 1973,” he said.
Secondly, as the collaborators order was brought back again in the first schedule of the Constitution through the 15th amendment, the trial, if required, must be held under that order, Fakhrul noted.
“According to Article 4 of the collaborators order, as long as it subsists, no other law is applicable to hold the trial of 1971 crimes,” he said.
Salauddin Quader is charged with crimes against humanity, including murder, extermination, torture, rape, confinement, conversion and deportation during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971. The tribunal framed 23 charges against him on April 4, 2012. Chowdhury was arrested on December 16, 2010 by the law enforcement agencies on charge of his involvement in torching a car on June 26 the same year at Moghbazar, causing the death of one person. He was shown as arrested in connection with crimes against humanity by the tribunal-1 on December 19, 2010.
-With The Independent input
