Tag Archives: Bangladesh War Crimes Tribunal

19 June 2013: ICT-2 Daily Summary – Alim Examination-in-Chief of PW 26

 Today the Tribunal heard matters in the following cases:

  1. Chief Prosecutor vs. Abdul Alim

The Prosecution called Prosecution witness 26 to testify in the case against Abdul Alim. The witness’s testimony supports Charge 2 against the Accused. Prosecutor Rana Das Gupta conducted the examination-in-chief.

Examination-in-Chief of PW 26
The witness, Jogen Chandra Pal, stated that he is the son of the late Lolit Chandra Pal. He studied up to Class 3, and was around 23-24 years old during the war of liberation in 1971.

On a Monday in the 3rd week of the month of Boishakh in the Bengali calendar, in the year 1971, at around 12-12:30 pm, the witness heard people shouting. The witness was in his own house, and heard the sound coming from Kadipur village. He then heard that Alim’s Peace Committee members and Pakistan Army came to Kadipur village. Upon hearing the shouting, everyone in his village ran. The witness does not know where they went. Continue reading →

18 June 2013: ICT-2 Daily Summary – Jalal contempt proceedings, Alim Cross Examination of PW 25

Today the Tribunal heard matters in the following cases:

  1. Contempt Proceedings vs. Jahir Uddin Jalal
  2. Chief Prosecutor vs. Abdul Alim

In the contempt proceedings against Jahir Uddin Jalal, the Tribunal granted additional time to Jalal’s lawyer to prepare his explanation, and set June 30 as the date for the next hearing. In the Abdul Alim case, defense counsel Hena conducted the cross examination of Prosecution witness 25. The counsel mainly directed his questioning towards the credibility of the witness.  Continue reading →

18 June 2013: ICT-1 Daily Summary – Chowdhury Testifies as DW 1

Today the Tribunal heard matters in the following cases:

  1. Chief Prosecutor vs. Salauddin Qader Chowdhury
  2. Contempt Proceedings vs. Adam Roberts of the Economist and Others                                    

Today the Tribunal had scheduled the hearing of Adam Roberts’ reply to the Tribunal’s show cause notice, issued on 6 December 2012 in relation to the Economist’s publication of portions of alleged Skype conversations between the former Tribunal 1 Chairman and foreign lawyer Ahmed Ziauddin. On 25 March 2013, Mustafizur Rahman submitted a reply on behalf of Economist. Today, 18 June 2013 counsel on behalf of Roberts sought additional time. The Tribunal granted the prayer and schedule 18 July for the hearing.

The Tribunal then heard ongoing testimony from Salauddin Qader Chowdhury, who took the stand as Defense witness 1. Continue reading →

17 June 2013: ICT-2 Daily Summary – Qaiser Investigation, Alim Examination-in-Chief of PW 25

Today the Tribunal heard matters in the following cases:

  1. Investigation of Syed Mohammad Qaisar
  2. Chief Prosecutor vs. Abdul Alim

The Prosecution submitted a report about the ongoing investigation against Syed Mohammad Qaisar and requested the suspect’s continued detention. The Tribunal ordered that the suspect remain in custody during the investigation, and set July 18, 2013 as the date for further orders. In the Alim case, the Prosecution conducted the examination-in-chief of Prosecution witness 25, who testified with regard to Charge 4 against Alim. Continue reading →

17 June 2013: ICT-1 Daily Summary – Chowdhury Testifies as DW 1

17 June 2013: ICT-1 Daily Summary

Today the Tribunal heard matters in the following cases:

  1. Chief Prosecutor vs. Salauddin Qader Chowdhury –Defendant testimony as DW 1

Today, 17 June 2013, The Defense counsel for Salauddin Qader Chowdhury requested review of the Tribunal’s order from 13 June, which limited the number of allowed Defense witnesses to 5. The Defense also requested time for privileged communication with the Defendant. As the Chairman was on leave, the Tribunal decided it would hear the application for review upon his return. The Tribunal granted the application for privileged communication and passed an order that two Defense Counsels be allowed to meet with Chowdhury on 18 June 2013 from 10 am to 11am at the cell in the Tribunal.

Thereafter, Chowdhury himself took the stand as a Defense witness 1. He testified that he was born in Chittagong in 1949. He provided extensive detail about his family background, including his own family, his siblings, cousins, uncles, father and his father’s education. The witness then described the Charge Framing Order as a formal proposition. The witness testified that the first paragraph of the order states that the two nation theory, and the proposal of an independent Bangladesh, is the primary cause of all communal strife in Bangladesh. The witness testified that this is an ill-disguised proposal for the dissolution of the communally demarcated territory of Bangladesh as enshrined in Article 2 of the constitution of Bangladesh. Thereafter, the Tribunal adjourned the proceedings of the case until 18 June 2013.

Courtroom Dynamics and Administrative Notes
The accused placed his testimony without oath because the Prosecution objected to the oath. The Defendant made his statement in English. This presented logistical problems as the court reporter is not fluent in English and only records witness testimony in Bangla. Therefore it was difficult for the court reporter to keep up with the witness’ pace, and the proceedings were considerably slowed. Additionally ongoing arguments between the Defense and Prosecution over Chowdhury’s statement, use of various phrases, and the spelling of certain English words took up a great deal of time. The Prosecution objected that the witness’ testimony was not relevant to the charges. The Tribunal instructed the witness to be concise in his testimony.