Tag Archives: evidence

25 March 2013: ICT-2 Daily Summary – Kamaruzzaman Prosecution Closing Arguments

Today the Tribunal heard matters in the following cases:

  1. Chief Prosecutor vs. Muhammad Kamaruzzaman

The day’s proceedings began later than usual due to the late arrival of senior Prosecutor Saiful Islam. The court sat at 10:35 A.M but adjourned for half an hour after waiting for the Prosecutor to arrive. After his arrival the Tribunal reconvened and chastised the Prosecutor for his tardiness. They warned that he would face sanctions if similar incidents occured in the future.   The prosecutor then moved on to address the evidentiary aspects of each of the charges against Kamaruzzaman.

Charge 1:  Torture and murder of Badiuzzaman
Date of Occurrence: 29 June 1971 and 30 June 1971.
Place of Occurrence: Ahammad Nagar Army Camp
Witnesses in support of the Charge: Prosecution witnesses  4 and 6.

Both the prosecution witnesses in support of this charge provided testimony based on hearsay evidence. Prosecution witness 6 additionally gave testimony in relation to some circumstantial evidence. The testimony of Prosecution witness 4 involves multiple hearsay, meaning that the information was relayed through more than one person before being received by the witness. Prosecution witness 6 testified that Kamaruzzaman accompanied the group who abducted the victim. The Prosecution argued that they have evidence showing that the accused led the group. However, the judges stated that  such evidence would not be of high significance because Charge 1 against Kamaruzzaman is not framed under Section 4(2) of the ICT Act of 1973, which provides for liability due to command responsibility.

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7 Feb 2013: ICT-2 Daily Summary – Kamaruzzaman re-examination of PW 16, Contempt against Jamaat

Today the Tribunal heard matters in the following cases:

  1. Chief Prosecutor vs. Muhammad Kamaruzzaman – Re-examination of prosecution witness  (Accused Not Present)

At the beginning of the day’s proceedings senior Defense counsel Mr Tajul Islam  expressed his concern and dissatisfaction regarding access and entry of defense counsel at the Tribunal gate.

The court then moved to Muhammad Kamaruzzaman’s case wherein the prosecution witness PW-16, Mr. Azabuddin Miah, was re-examined by the Prosecution. Mr. Miah is the Assistant Librarian of Bangla Academy (Newspaper Branch) and is testifying before the tribunal as to the authenticity of various newspapers collected from the Bangla Academy archive by the Investigation Officer. Continue reading →

28 January 2013: ICT 2 Daily Summary – Prosecution Witness 17 documentary evidence

Today the Tribunal heard matters in the following cases:

  1. Chief Prosecutor vs. Muhammad Kamaruzzaman – Direct examination of prosecution witness 17 (Accused Present)

The Tribunal heard the prosecution’s application to submit further evidence in its case under section 9(4) of the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973.  In addition to extracts from newspapers that refer to the accused Muhammad Kamaruzzaman as a leading figure of the then operational Al-Badar high command, the prosecution also requested the admission of classified documents collected from the Bangladeshi National Security Intelligence (NSI) containing a list of collaborators who were arrested in Dhaka  after the Liberation War for allegedly  assisting the Pakistani Army. The prosecution claims to have obtained the list on 8 March 2012. The Defense is scheduled to make a counter submission regarding the issue tomorrow, following which the tribunal will give its decision as to the admissibility of the evidence.

The prosecution then called for PW-17 Amena Khatun, the Documentation Officer and Departmental Head of Muktijuddho Jadughor (Liberation War Museum).  Continue reading →

23 January 2013: ICT 2 Daily Summary

The Tribunal heard the following cases:

  1. Contempt Proceedings against Suranjit Sen Gupta
  2. Chief Prosecutor vs.  Abdul Alim: Cross examination of Prosecution Witness (Accused Present)
  3. Chief Prosecutor vs. Muhammad Kamaruzzaman: Examination-in-Chief of Prosecution Witness  (Accused Present)

At the beginning of the day’s proceedings, Mr Rana Das Gupta, counsel for the prosecution brought to the court’s attention the comments made by MK Anwar, a member of BNP standing committee on January 20th, a day before the announcement of ICT-2’s first judgment. Mr Gupta submitted that the BNP veteran’s comment – that the ongoing trials of the war criminals have been staged by the government to serve its political purposes – will adversely affect the public perception as to the tribunal’s independence. The chair of the tribunal in response to the prosecution’s averment opined that such a statement is purely a political one and it is correct to say that the Government’s decision to form the International Crimes Tribunals was an executive decision and that is a part of the ruling party’s political manifesto. The Tribunal asked the prosecution to submit a written application precisely enumerating questionable statements made by Gupta.The court made it clear that it will only proceed with contempt proceedings if MK Anwar’s comment appears to be on a sub-judice matter. At this point, the court expressed its appreciation for Defense counsel Tajul Islam, for his comment to the media whereby he stated that the judgment in the case against Abul Kalam Azad Bacchu will not affect the decision of other pending cases.

Counsel for Mr Suranjit Sen Gupta requested adjournment of the hearing due to the unavailability of senior counsel. The court accepted the request and stated that it will fix and notify the next date for hearing.

The court then moved to Abdul Alim’s case wherein the prosecution witness PW-9, Mr Jahidul Islam was cross examined by the defense counsel, whose core line of questioning was aimed to undermine the credibility of the witness, suggesting that the testimony has been concocted at the Prosecution’s direction and that the witness could not have seen or heard of the participation of the accused. The case was then adjourned until 4 February 2013.

In the Kamaruzzaman case, Mr Md Azabuddin Miah, the Assistant Librarian of Bangla Academy testified as Prosecution Witness 16. He stated that Mr Abdur Razzak Khan, the Investigation Officer of the case collected a total of 257 paper extracts from daily and weekly papers published during the 1971 liberation war. Of these documents, only 6 extracted items have been exhibited for the tribunal’s perusal in support of the prosecution’s case against the accused. The tribunal disallowed the defense from referring to any other newspaper extracts from the bundle that has not been so exhibited.
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13 Jan 2013: ICT 1Daily Summary – Golam Azam, Nizami, Sayedee

Today ICT 1 heard matters in the following cases:

  1. Chief Prosecutor vs Golam Azam– Application for Review (Accused Not Present)
  2. Chief Prosecutor vs. Motiur Rahman Nizami – Application for Review (Accused Not Present)
  3. Chief Prosecutor vs Delwar Hossain Sayedee – Application for Review, Contempt Proceedings, Prosecution Closing Arguments (Accused Present)

Defense counsel for  of Golam Azam, Nizami and Sayedee filed applications for Review of the January 3, 2013 order denying retrial. Senior Defense lawyer Razzaq requested that the tribunal halt proceedings until the Review applications have been addressed by the court. Prosecutor Haider Ali argued that the tribunal should reject the applications summarily.

The Chairman of Tribunal-1 stated that the trials would continue as the court considered the Review applications. Razzaq then argued that in the interest of justice the Tribunal should hear the Review application before hearing the summing up of arguments in Sayedee’s case. This request was rejected and the Prosecution began their closing arguments as scheduled for that case.

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