The Inter-national Crimes Tribunal-2 (ICT-2) on Wednesday rejected the bail petition of Jatiya Party leader Syed Mohammad Kaiser to expedite the investigation into his alleged involvement in crimes against humanity. The tribunal, chaired by Justice Obaidul Hassan, also directed the prosecution to submit a progress report on the investigation on June 17.Defence counsel SM Sahjahan had filed the bail petition for Kaiser after his arrest on Tuesday. But the tribunal kept the bail plea pending for Wednesday. The accused was ill and required proper treatment, Sahjahan had pleaded. “Kaiser is 73 years old. He is suffering from various diseases, including heart ailments, and his health condition is very vulnerable. He is confined to a wheelchair and cannot move without assistance. He is willing to accept all conditions for his release and the tribunal might consider the bail plea on humanitarian grounds,” Shahjahan said.
Opposing the bail plea, prosecutor Rana Dasgupta argued: “The accused belongs to an influential family and witnesses will feel intimidated if he is given bail. If the accused remains free, he may destroy documents and evidences against him and the investigation will be hampered.”
He added: “The investigation agency began a probe into Kaiser’s involvement in crimes against humanity a year ago. But we have prayed for his arrest only now for the sake of effective investigation.”
Regarding Kaiser’s present health condition, the prosecutor said: “We need to go back to 1971 when he was a young man of 30. He took a strong and effective stand against the country’s Liberation War. He formed the Kaiser Bahini and carried out atrocities against pro-Liberation people.”
Kaiser was allegedly involved in murder, torture, arson, confinement, conversion and deportation in 1971. “Considering the gravity of offences, the tribunal should reject his bail,” Dasgupta said.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the tribunal decided to reject Kaiser’s bail plea.
-With The Independent input
