Today the Tribunal heard matters in the following cases:
Tribunal 2 delivered its judgment in the trial of Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan today. They used the courtroom of Tribunal 1 for the pronouncement, because it is much larger than the regular ICT-2 courtroom. Because of this,t he proceeding of Tribunal 1 did not commence until 2:00 pm today. Continue reading
Due to funding uncertainties late in the year, our project was forced to take a hiatus in the month of October. During this time, our trial observers were not physically present in the courtroom to observe proceedings. Trial observation resumed in November, after additional funding was secured to continue the project. In the interest of continuity, we have compiled two brief posts—one for ICT-1 and the other for ICT-2— highlighting major developments in each of the cases that took place during our October hiatus. As we have done with Hartal coverage of the proceedings, the following information was compiled from official court records and communication with the parties to the proceedings.
This month, the Tribunal heard matters in the following cases:
Salauddin Qader Chowdhury
In the case of Chief Prosecutor vs. Salauddin Qader Chowdhury, Tribunal 1 issued a verdict on 1 October 2013. Salauddin Qader Chowdhury was found guilty and sentenced to death for charges 3, 5, 6 and 8. He received 70 years imprisonment for charges 2, 4, 7, 17 and 18. He was acquitted of 8 charges, and the Prosecution did not submit any evidence on the remaining 6 charges. During the pronouncement of verdict, the Accused Salauddin Qader Chowdhury alleged that the verdict had already leaked and was available on the website. Continue reading
Due to funding uncertainties late in the year, our project was forced to take a hiatus in the month of October. During this time, our trial observers were not physically present in the courtroom to observe proceedings. Trial observation resumed in November, after additional funding was secured to continue the project. In the interest of continuity, we have compiled two brief posts—one for ICT-1 and the other for ICT-2— highlighting major developments in each of the cases that took place during our October hiatus. As we have done with Hartal coverage of the proceedings, the following information was compiled from official court records and communication with the parties to the proceedings.
This month, the Tribunal heard matters in the following cases:
Tribunal 2 made more limited progress in October than in other months due to a combination of holidays and hartals. The Court was adjourned a number of days in observance of government holidays for Durga Puja (an important Hindu festival) and Eid-ul-Azha (an important Muslim festival), followed by several country-wide hartals, called by the major opposition parties of Bangladesh. The Court convened on 9 October 2013 to deliver Judgment in the case of Chief Prosecutor vs. Abdul Alim, and again on 10 October 2013 to hear arguments in the contempt proceedings against a Prosecution witness, Mr. Jahir Uddin Jalal. These major days of proceedings are covered separately in dedicated daily posts for each day. Aside from the Judgment and the contempt proceedings, the following highlights the Court’s schedule in October. Continue reading
Today the Tribunal heard matters in the following cases:
On 10 October 2013 heard a bail application from senior Defense counsel Abdur Razzak, on behalf of AKM Yusuf. Counsel sought release of the Accused on grounds of recent deterioration of his health. The Court directed the jail authorities to submit an updated health report to the Tribunal, reflecting the latest health condition of the Accused. It fixed 23 October 2013 as the next date for passing further orders in regard to his bail.
Also today, the tribunal passed its long awaited order in the contempt proceedings against Jahir Uddin Jalal. These contempt proceeding had received significant attention from the Bangladeshi public, in particular amongst members of the Bar, so we elected to review the charges in detail here, as compiled from previous daily summaries where we covered the matter.
On 9 October 2013, Tribunal 2 issued its fifth verdict, concluding the case of Chief Prosecutor vs. Md. Abdul Alim alias M.A. Alim. The Tribunal found Alim guilty on nine of seventeen charges: specifically Charges 1, 2, 6, 7 8, 9, 10, 12, 14. He was acquitted of Charges 3, 4, 5, 11, 13, 15, 16 and 17.
The Charges and the Verdict:
The Bangladesh Trial Observer 