Dhaka indicts senior leader for war crime
22 Jun 2012 8:00 AM IST
A senior leader of Bangladesh's largest fundamentalist party Jamaat-e-Islami was on Thursday indicted by a special tribunal for ‘crimes against humanity’ committed during the nation's liberation war in 1971. The prosecution accused Jamaat Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad of genocide, conspiracy in killing intellectuals, murder and confinement.
Under one of the charges the prosecution accused Mojaheed of killing veteran journalist and 1971 martyr Sirajudin Hossain and famous musician Altaf Mahmud. He was also accused to be a leading figure in inciting genocides and particularly the leading intelligentsia siding with the Pakistani troops.
‘You are thus liable for offenses [1971 war crimes]... We hereby direct you to be tried by this Tribunal,’ International Crimes Tribunal II chairman Justice A T M Fazle Kabir said.
‘Noted journalist Sirajuddin Hossain had written an article on Daily Ittefaq [in 1971] about Pakistani troops atrocities... You wrote a counter article on Daily Sangram defending the brutal crackdown and subsequently some people with their face covered abducted Sirajuddin Hossain from his Chamelibagh home in the city on December 10, 1971. He never returned,’ the judge said. Mojaheed, however, claimed he was ‘one hundred per cent innocent’ as the tribunal, in line with the legal procedure, asked the fundamentalist leader if he would admit his guilt.
Mojaheed was arrested in a separate case on June 29 in 2010 and subsequently shown arrested on charges of crimes against humanity.
Under one of the charges the prosecution accused Mojaheed of killing veteran journalist and 1971 martyr Sirajudin Hossain and famous musician Altaf Mahmud. He was also accused to be a leading figure in inciting genocides and particularly the leading intelligentsia siding with the Pakistani troops.
‘You are thus liable for offenses [1971 war crimes]... We hereby direct you to be tried by this Tribunal,’ International Crimes Tribunal II chairman Justice A T M Fazle Kabir said.
‘Noted journalist Sirajuddin Hossain had written an article on Daily Ittefaq [in 1971] about Pakistani troops atrocities... You wrote a counter article on Daily Sangram defending the brutal crackdown and subsequently some people with their face covered abducted Sirajuddin Hossain from his Chamelibagh home in the city on December 10, 1971. He never returned,’ the judge said. Mojaheed, however, claimed he was ‘one hundred per cent innocent’ as the tribunal, in line with the legal procedure, asked the fundamentalist leader if he would admit his guilt.
Mojaheed was arrested in a separate case on June 29 in 2010 and subsequently shown arrested on charges of crimes against humanity.
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