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| Bangladesh | |||
| Jamaat leaders' bail pleas rejected | |||
| 2010-09-22 | |||
[Bangla Daily Star] The International Crimes Tribunal yesterday rejected all petition the top four Jamaat leaders filed for their release, withdrawal of arrest warrants against them and staying trial proceeding for war crimes.
Tribunal's registrar Shahinur Islam said the tribunal would start its proceedings against the four after the prosecution submits formal charges against them.
The petitions were filed on August 2 and 3 this year. On August 2, the four top Jamaat leaders were produced before the tribunal in connection with charges of crimes against humanity. In the petitions they prayed for the tribunal's direction to the authorities concerned to provide them letter of authority (power to move cases), send back the records of two war crimes related cases filed against them to lower courts, and give them certified copies of its orders. Passing the orders the tribunal said it issued the arrest warrant against them but the order was not executed as they were in jail in other cases. It said detention against the petitioners is required for effective and proper investigation into allegations under Article-3 (2) of International Crimes Tribunal Act, 1973. This section deals with offences like war crimes, genocide, murder, abduction, confinement, torture and rape. The court observed that there are no proceedings other than the petitions pending with the tribunal against them and there is no need to issue any stay order. It said the suspects would get all certified copies when the tribunal delivers judgements after formal charges are submitted. The court also rejected two petitions, which sought direction to the authorities to provide them letter of authority (power to move cases) and to send records of two cases back to Chief Metropolitan Court in Dhaka, considering that the two petitions were submitted for hearing. The court also said the tribunal has not received any record of the two cases. The counsels for the Jamaat leaders also prayed to the court to allow them to withdraw the two petitions. Two cases were filed against them at Keraniganj Police Station on December 17, 2007, and Pallabi Police Station on February 26, 2008, in Dhaka in connection with committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War. The three-judge tribunal is headed by its chairman Justice Nizamul Huq. The two other judges of the tribunal are Justice ATM Fazle Kabir and Justice AKM Zaheer Ahmed. Ghulam Arieff Tipoo, Syed Haider Ali and Zead Al Malulm placed arguments for the prosecution while Tajul Islam, Golam Mohammad Chowdhury Alam, Fakhrul Islam and Masud Ahmed Sayeed appeared for the Jamaat leaders. SAYEDEE'S ARREST PETITION The tribunal yesterday also adjourned the hearing till this morning on a petition submitted by the prosecution for issuing arrest warrant against detained Jamaat Nayeb-e-Ameer Delwar Hossain Sayedee in connection with crimes against humanity and peace in 1971. The court fixed today for hearing on two petitions, one filed for issuing warrant of arrest against Sayedee and the other for directing the authorities to provide letter of authority to Sayedee. The tribunal also asked prison authorities to produce Sayedee before it this morning during the hearing. However, Sayedee will not be produced before the tribunal today due to his illness, sources in Dhaka Central Jail told The Daily Star yesterday. The jail doctors yesterday certified that Sayedee is not physically fit to be produced before the tribunal today. The authorities produced Sayedee before the tribunal yesterday morning in connection with prosecution's allegations of offences committed under International Crimes Tribunal Act, 1973. They brought him to the tribunal amid tight security around 9:00am and kept him detained in its prison until the tribunal started its day's proceedings around 10:30am. A team from the investigation agency yesterday continued probing the allegations of war crimes against Sayedee in Pirojpur for the second time. During hearing yesterday, the tribunal reprimanded the prosecution since they could not properly prepare the petition against Sayedee. The prosecution did not mention in the petition the grounds on which the tribunal could issue order of detention against Sayedee. The tribunal told prosecutor Syed Haider Ali that he is a senior lawyer of the Supreme Court but his petition could not satisfy the tribunal. The tribunal ordered the prosecution to place a corrected petition before it this morning. There are no cases filed against Sayedee in connection with crimes against humanity but the prosecution has brought several allegations against him. | |||
| Posted by:Fred |