BANGLADESH

The first war crimes tribunal on Wednesday indicted the BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury on 23 counts of genocide and other crimes against humanity including murder, rape, arson, abduction, confinement and complicity.

The three-judge International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT), headed by Justice M Nizamul Huq and set up on Mar 25, 2010 to deal with crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, directed the prosecution to begin opening arguments followed by witness examination on Apr 29.

The BNP policymaker's defence was also directed to submit their witness list along with other documents by that date.

The BNP MP from Chittagong is the second person to be indicted for crimes against humanity. Apart from him, witness deposition is going on against the Jamaat-e-Islami executive council member Delwar Hossain Sayedee for war crimes as well.

Justice Nizamul Huq said in his order that the court was of the view that there was "sufficient grounds to presume that [SQ Chowdhury] had committed offences under section 3.2, 4.1 and 4.2 [of the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act of 1973]."

Justice Huq then proceeded to read out 23 charges against the BNP policymaker in a crowded courtroom with a diminished seating capacity as some of the benches have been shifted to the second tribunal housed in the Old High Court Building that once served as the chambers of the chief justice.

The indictment order began with a brief historical context from 1947 leading up to the Liberation War of 1971 when the accused BNP leader had allegedly carried out crimes against humanity in his native Chittagong.

What charges?

Upon reading out the charges, the tribunal chief asked Salauddin Quader whether he had heard and understood the charges.

Salauddin Quader replied that he neither heard them nor did he understand them.

Justice Huq said that since the charges were read out in his presence, it would be presumed that he had heard them.

The judge then asked the BNP leader, "Are you guilty or not guilty?"

Salauddin Quader: Of what?

Justice Huq: The charges

Salauddin Quader: What charges?

Justice Huq: It is presumed that he pleads 'not guilty'.

Salauddin Quader: I can reply once I have the charges in writing and have seen them. I have not seen them, so I cannot say.

Justice Huq: You have been elected an MP five-six times. It is like saying that you would require someone's statement in writing before you are ready to reply.

The tribunal chairman then continued with his order ignoring the six-time MP's interjections and fixed the next date of trial and mentioned in the order that it would continue on every working day unless otherwise mentioned.

Scene 1

Typical to the days when the mercurial BNP politician's hearings are scheduled, Wednesday did not fail to entertain the audience at the tribunal with theatrics from both the MP and his counsel who at one point declined to obey the court's order.

The chief prosecutor, however, was up first to point to a number of newspaper reports that quoted another BNP leader M K Anwar, a former agriculture minister, saying that the court had reverted to a jungle law by accepting the statements of 15 witnesses without the scope of cross-examination.

After a few minutes of deliberation, Justice Huq said he would deal with the matter at 2pm, when the court returned from its lunch recess.

Justice Huq then called Munshi Ahsan Kabir, a defence counsel for Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed and said that although he wanted less of it, the political lectures were increasing.

He was referring to statements of Salauddin Quader's wife. One SMS message Farhat Quader Chowdhury had sent out says that the decision regarding 15 witnesses had turned the trial into a farce and she asks what the point of such a farce was after all. "Why not hang them in Paltan Maidan directly?"

The BNP leader then said that he be allowed to speak since the judge had made some comments about his wife. The tribunal did not respond.

This was followed by Salauddin Quader's defence counsel Fakhrul Islam taking the podium with eight petitions. He insisted that the petitions be heard before the tribunal passed its order.

Justice Huq did not agree with the submission and asked the counsel to take his seat.

When Fakhrul Islam kept on with his insistence, the tribunal chairman raised his index finger pointing at the counsel and said in an uncharacteristically loud voice, "Stop! And take your seat!"

The counsel said, "I most respectfully decline to abide by the order. And you must hear me."

He then continued to submit that the petitions needed to be heard. The tribunal replied that they would be heard after the order had been passed. Justice Huq then proceeded to pass the indictment order.

SQ Chowdhury in ICT

The prosecution submitted formal charges against Salauddin Quader on Nov 14, 2011 and the tribunal took them into cognisance three days later.

The Chittagong MP was shown arrested for war crimes charges on Dec 20, 2010, five days after his arrest.

The investigating agency submitted a 119-page report with around 8,000-page data to the chief prosecutor on Oct 3 in a bid to prove allegations of war crimes during the 1971 Liberation War.

Besides Sayedee whose case is the most advanced and Salauddin Quader, Jamaat chief Matiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed and assistant secretaries general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla, and have been detained on war crimes charges.

The tribunal also sent Jamaat-e-Islami's former chief Ghulam Azam to jail on Jan 11 and will issue his indictment order on Apr 17.

The tribunal last week extended bail of former BNP MP Abdul Alim and member of Ziaur Rahman's cabinet, ordering the prosecution to place the formal charges on Apr 24.