Investigation agency of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is preparing to file formal charges against a few more suspects to start legal proceedings after the judgements against professor Ghulam Azam and Muhammad Kamaruzzaman. In reply to a query, the chief investigator Mohammad Abdul Hannan Khan on Friday said more cases were likely to be filed after the delivery of two pending verdicts against Ghulam Azam and Kamaruzzaman. The verdicts are pending after the conclusions of final arguments that took place sometime in the middle of last month.
“Investigation agency will not need much time to prepare the final reports against ATM Azharul Islam and Abdus Sobhan,” he said.
According to sources, investigation agency has nearly completed enquiries against a number of suspects, who were allegedly involvement in the crimes against humanity during the liberation war of Bangladesh
in 1971.
Investigation against Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Kashem Ali is nearing the end and the authority is likely to submit formal charge against him on May 9.
Investigations against Syed Mohammad Kaiser (Madhabpur, Hobiganj), Sakhawat Hossain (Keshobpur, Jessore), Gias Quader Chowdhury (Rauzan, Chittagong) and Zahid Hossain Khokon (Nagarkanda, Faridpur) were also going on in full swing, he said.
“Some of them are very influential in the society. Syed Mohammad Kaiser is a renowned industrialist and a former minister, while Zahid Hossain Khokon was a Poursova chairman,” he said, adding that the investigation agency has already advised the law enforcement agencies to remain alert about them so that they cannot flee.
Evidences were being gathered by the investigators about their involvements in criminal acts during the liberation war of Bangladesh, Hannan Khan added.
Elaborating the allegations, he said all of them were engaged in wide ranging atrocities including murder, extermination, rape, torture, arson, deportation and
confinement.
The two tribunals ICT-1 and ICT-2 have already passed the verdicts against three accused persons. Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee and Abul Kalam Azad ( alias Bachchu Razakar) were sentenced to death, while Abdul Quader Molla received life long imprisonment for their participation in 1971 felony.
Apart from the above mentioned cases, the tribunals are now hearing the depositions of prosecution witnesses against BNP lawmaker Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, Motiur Rahman Nizami, Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojahid and Abdul Alim.
Considering the pace of trial, the proceedings against them will take several months to finish. After the depositions of prosecution witnesses, defence witnesses will testify for the suspects before final arguments take place.
However, the tribunal-1 framed charge against expelled Awami League leader Mobarak Hossain on April 23 and the prosecution is scheduled to place opening statement against him on May 16.
The ICT-2 took the allegations into cognizance against two expatriate war crime suspects of 1971 Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan on May 2. It also issued arrest warrant against them, asking the law enforcement agencies to execute the order as soon as possible and submit a report in this regard by May 12.
Furthermore the tribunals has already placed three Jamaat-e-Islami leaders ATM Azharul Islam, Mir Kashem Ali and Abdus Sobhan in custody in order to carry out smooth and effective investigations against them.
The prosecution will initiate legal action against them once the investigation agency submits final probe reports.
-With The Independent input
