Prosecutor calls Jamaat leader's claim that tribunal only tries fugitives 'completely false'

The claim that the International Crimes Tribunal only tries fugitive accused and that no verdicts are being delivered against accused who are present is completely false, tribunal prosecutor Gazi Monawar Hossain Tamim has said. He made the comment at a briefing on the tribunal premises on Sunday.

At the briefing, a journalist said Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar had recently alleged at a press conference that only fugitive accused are being sentenced at the tribunal, and that the tribunal is trying cases of the kind whose sentences cannot be carried out. The journalist asked whether that falls under contempt of court.

In reply, Prosecutor Gazi Monawar said the tribunal will consider what amounts to contempt of court. He said, 'You mentioned that a political leader, the Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general, has said only fugitive accused are tried at the tribunal and no verdicts are being given against present accused. On behalf of the prosecution, we consider this statement completely false.'

Explaining the point, the prosecutor said cases of fugitive accused are usually conducted by state-appointed lawyers, who run the cases at the tribunal based on the documents provided by the prosecution.

An accused who is present, by contrast, conducts the case through several lawyers, who delay matters in various ways. The accused himself stays present and gives instructions to his lawyers. That is why those cases are delayed and the trials run for a longer time. That does not mean no present accused is being tried here; that is not correct, he said.

Prosecutor Gazi Monawar also noted at the briefing that the cases of several present accused have reached a completely final stage. Cases of present accused take a little longer to finish, while fugitive accused's cases finish a little faster, he said.

The trials in the cases of present accused Salman F Rahman, a former adviser to the prime minister, former minister Anisul Huq, Workers Party of Bangladesh president Rashed Khan Menon, former minister Kamrul Islam and former army officer Ziaul Ahsan are nearing their end, the briefing was told.

Meanwhile, the tribunal has ordered Asaduzzaman Fuad, general secretary of the Amar Bangladesh (AB) Party, to appear in person on November 4 and give an explanation over allegations of contemptuous remarks. The tribunal issued the order on its own initiative on Sunday, and Prosecutor Gazi Monawar informed journalists of the matter at the briefing.