The International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Sunday ordered its investigative agency to complete the probe of the Jamaat’s detained executive council member, Mir Quasem Ali,
by September 27.
The tribunal fixed the date after prosecutor Sultan
Mahmud submitted a report on the progress of investigation and sought more time to complete it.
The tribunal, popularly known as the war crimes tribunal, asked the prosecution to submit formal charges against Quasem by September 27.
In case of failure, the prosecution will need to inform the tribunal of the progress of the investigation on September 27.
When defence counsel Tajul Islam asked the tribunal to give him a copy of the progress report, the tribunal said that the copy would not be given as there were some
secrets in the report.
The tribunal also asked the prosecution not to inform the press of the contents of the report.
Quasem was produced before the tribunal.
Police arrested Quasem on June 17 from daily Naya Diganta’s office in Motijheel in response to an order by the tribunal which has accused him of committing crimes
against humanity during the War of Independence in 1971.
The tribunal also questioned Mohammad Helal Uddin, the investigation officer of the war crimes case against Jamaat’s nayeb-e amir Delawar Hossain Sayedee, for the 47th
day.
During the cross-examination, tribunal’s chairman Justice Mohammad Nizamul Huq reminded defence counsel Mizanul Islam that he had only one more day to cross-examine
the investigation officer and will have to complete it by Monday.
On August 8, the tribunal gave two more days to the defence counsel to cross-examine Helal on Sunday and Monday, as Mizanul on the day sought more time to complete his
cross-examination.
On August 2 the tribunal asked the defence counsel to complete the cross-examination of the investigation officer by August 8.
The tribunal on August 8 also accepted the prosecution’s plea to receive as evidence the statement of a dead prosecution witness which was recorded by the
investigation officer.
The witness, Mukunda Lal Chakrabartee, died on April 21.
Defence counsel Mizanul Islam on Sunday wrapped up his cross-examination of witnesses and moved on to questions related to the witness house on Atish Dipankar Road in
Syedabad.
On 3 October, 2011, the tribunal indicted Sayedee on 20 counts of crimes against humanity.
In the International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Sunday, Jamaat’s assistant secretary general Abdul Quader Molla’s defence counsel, Md Abdus Sobhan Tarafdar, cross-examined
Abdul Majid Palwan, the seventh prosecution witness against Quader.
Majid on Wednesday, in his deposition before the tribunal, had testified that Quader Molla and his accomplices and soldiers of the Pakistani occupation army had killed
60 Bengalis and set many houses on fire in Ghatarchar village of Keraniganj in Dhaka on 25 November, 1971.
On Sunday he told the tribunal that the Hindu locality and the locality by the side of playground, out of five localities in his village, were set on fire on that day.
He told the tribunal that the people of the other localities had fled in fear.
About 200 Pakistani soldiers came to his village on the day and the Razakars were with them, he said, adding that he saw the soldiers go to the river and board a
launch after committing massacre in his village.
The cross-examination remained incomplete when the tribunal adjourned the proceedings of the case till Monday morning.
Quader, who was brought to the tribunal from Kashimpur Jail, sought permission to leave the tribunal because he needed enough time to reach the jail after completing
the day’s proceedings, and feared that Iftar might pass by that time.
The tribunal eventually responded positively to his appeal and he left the tribunal at around 2:45pm, about 45 minutes before completing the day’s proceedings.
The tribunal indicted Quader on May 28 on six counts of genocide and crimes against humanity.
-With New Age input
