War crimes trial
Mojaheed’s bail petition rejected
The International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Tuesday rejected the petition of detained Jamaat secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad
Mojaheed seeking bail.
Mojaheed sought bail to perform Itiqaf, which requires a devotee to spend several days at a mosque, and saying Tarabi prayers at congregations in the month of Ramadan.
In the war crimes case against detained Jamaat assistant secretary general Abdul Quader Molla, the tribunal granted permission to the prosecution to produce three new witnesses, who were not named in the formal charge against the accused.
Moving Mojaheed’s bail petition, his lawyer Nazrul Islam submitted that his client needed bail for offering special Tarabi prayers at congregations and for performing Itiqaf which requires spending the last 10 days of Ramadan in a mosque.
Besides, he submitted, Mojaheed’s wife had been suffering from serious back pain and there was none to look after her.
Prosecutor Mir Iqbal Hossain opposed the petition saying no accused could be granted bail on the stated grounds.
Mojaheed was not produced before the tribunal when its judges, Justice ATM Fazle Kabir, Justice Obaidul Hassan and judge Shahinur Islam heard the petition.
On June 21, the tribunal indicted Mojaheed on seven counts of crimes against humanity.
Meanwhile, retired teacher Md Abdul Mannan, the fourth prosecution witness against detained Jamaat assistant secretary general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman on Tuesday told the tribunal that there has been a widespread belief among the public since 1972 that Kamaruzzaman was an Al-Badr commander.
Mannan, better known as Fakir Abdul Mannan, during cross-examination by defence counsel Mohammad Kafil Uddin Chowdhury, however, said he never cross checked whether or not the information was correct.
Kamaruzzaman was on the dock.
Mannan, now 62, on Monday testified that in 1971 Al-Badr men and Pakistani occupation army officers tortured and killed Bangali army personnel Bodiuzzaman at Ahmednagar Camp in the presence of detained Jamaat assistant secretary general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman.
A facilitator at Chengapara Youth Camp in India in 1971, the witness, in his deposition, said that after the war, he heard about it from Syedur Rahman at local Awami League office of Jhinaigati in Sherpur and verified the information with Syedur’s brother Maqbul Hossain, who managed to escape from the camp.
During the cross examination, Mannan, also the then general secretary of Sherpur College Central Students’ Union, said that he had never heard the name of Kamaruzzaman before the War of Independence in 1971.
Mannan denied a defence allegation that he attributed the allegations against the accused to what was said by the public against Kamaruzzaman only because he belonged to the Awami League camp and Kamaruzzaman was his political rival.
His cross-examination ended on Tuesday.
The tribunal adjourned the proceedings of the case until August 13.
-With New Age input
