BANGLADESH

Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee facing charges of crimes against humanity during the 1971 independence war has been indicted by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT).

The tribunal framed the charges on Monday after Sayedee was produced before the three-member panel of judges around 10:30am amid tight security.

The trial will start from Oct 30, the tribunal announced.

Describing the 4,000-page charge-sheet placed against him as 'untrue', Sayedee denied the charges.

The prosecutors brought 31 accusations against the Jamaat leader, based on which 20 charges were framed by the court.

Sayedee's lawyer Tajul Islam also claimed that the procedure to frame charges was 'baseless'.

The prosecution team present in the court included ICT prosecution chief Golam Arif Tipu, prosecutors Syed Rezaur Rahman and Ziad Al Malum and state prosecutor in the case Syed Haider Ali.

The defence team consisted of Tajul Islam and Tanvir Ahmed Al Amin.

Earlier, a prison van carrying Sayedee from the Dhaka Central Jail reached the tribunal located in the old High Court building at Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue around 9:45am.

While framing charges, the tribunal specifically pointed out 20 incidents after narrating the contexts behind the liberation war and its history and said the report dubbed Sayedee as a member of the Rajakar forces.

Charges against Sayedee, who was known as 'Deilla Razakar' in his area during the war, relate to involvement in killing of more that 3,000 unarmed people, rape of more than nine women, arson, forcing Hindus to convert their religion, looting and other crimes against humanity. The crimes were committed in Pirojpur's Mohakuma area.

When the charges were being read out in English, Sayedee's lawyer Tajul Islam stood up and urged the court to have them read out in Bengali. But Sayedee, who was in the dock, said, "I can understand what is being said. Please continue."

After the charges were read out, the court asked Sayedee whether he was guilty of these charges. In response, the Jamaat leader said, "I will to talk to my lawyer."

After the court informed Sayedee that he could not consult his lawyer at that time, the Jamaat leader asked permission to give a speech which the court granted. In the eight-minute speech that followed, Sayedee said that the charges were not true.

The court then framed the charges and fixed Oct 30 for starting the trial. It also asked the prosecution and the defence to submit a list of their witnesses by then.

However, Tajul Islam said, "It is not possible for the defence to finish its preparations at such short notice. The investigations have gone on for a year after Sayedee was arrested. Before the arrest, it went on for another six months. It is not possible to prepare defence for all that in just 27 days."

He also called for a review of the indictment, in response to which the tribunal asked him to submit a petition in this regard in the next hearing.

Following the indictment, tribunal's chief prosecutor Golam Arif Tipu told bdnews24.com, "Through this, the official trial has kicked off. This in itself is big news. We had been avidly waiting for this."

Arguments by the defence and the prosecution on whether the indictment should take place were held during Sep 21-27. It fixed date for the indictment on Oct 3.

Talking to reporters, ICT registrar Shahinoor Islam later said Sayedee got every opportunity in line with law before he was indicted.

"Everything has been done impartially, after giving both sides sufficient and proper opportunities. There will be no difference in the future as well," he said.

"Frame charges against anyone doesn't mean that the person has been declared guilty. The defence will be there to defend the accused with his arguments and relevant jurisprudential processes during the trial.

"At this stage, the tribunal thinks preliminarily that the crimes, charged under the Article 3(2) of the 1973 law [International War Crimes (Tribunal) Act, 1973], had been committed at the mentioned time, place and way, and it is believed that the charged person had been involved with the crimes," the ICT registrar explained.
Sayedee is the first man facing formal trial among the five Jamaat leaders and two others from BNP facing similar charges.

Sayedee was arrested on July 30 last year. Apart from him, Jamaat chief Matiur Rahman Nizami, secretary-general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and assistant secretaries general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla have been arrested on war crimes charges.

Senior BNP leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury and Abdul Alim, a minister in Ziaur Rahman's cabinet, have also been arrested on similar charges.

Of the seven Jamaat and BNP leaders facing the war crimes charges, Alim is on conditional bail while the remaining six are behind bars.