rupashibangla Desk:
The first war crimes tribunal on Monday rejected two contempt petitions against Channel I reporter Mazharu Haque Manna and war crimes trial Advocate Shahriar Kabir.
Both the petitions filed by Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee’s defence claimed that he was wrongly portrayed in the report while Kabir had made misleading remarks about the Jamaat leader’s involvement in certain war crimes.
While hearing a bunch of applications on Monday, tribunal Chairman Justice Mohammad Nizamul Huq said both the petitions were rejected and he would give an order later in his chambers.
The tribunal had heard the petition on an earlier date and they were only awaiting an order.
The three-judge tribunal allowed two more petitions — one each of the defence and the prosecution.
The prosecution applied to have one witness statement included as evidence since the witness in question was currently abroad. The 95-year Mohsin Ali Khan a witness against Ghulam Azam, according to the investigation officer’s report, was currently residing at his daughter’s in New York and also undergoing treatment.
The prosecution argued that it might not be feasible to have the witness brought to Dhaka for giving evidence while the defence said that it would neither incur unreasonable expenditure nor delay in the trial, referring to the relevant Act. The application was allowed.
In Sayedee’s case, the defence applied to have all its documents and records accepted as court exhibits. The court all but allowed it, directing the defence to have that done through a witness, said Sayedee’s senior counsel Mizanul Islam. The court heard a number of other petitions but the orders are scheduled to come either on Tuesday or on Thursday.
The second session was taken up entirely with Ghulam Azam’s war crimes investigator’s testimony. Investigator ASP Matiur Rahman submitted some 520 items as exhibits and is set to continue his deposition at the next hearing.
upload 8oct. newsroom
