JP lawmaker, son denied bail

International Crimes Tribunal-1 yesterday denied bail to Jatiya Party lawmaker MA Hannan and his son Rafique Sajjad who are among eight Mymensingh men accused in a case over war crimes committed during the 1971 Liberation War.

Meanwhile, the tribunal directed prosecutors to submit an investigation report, if there were any, on April 4 in another case centring allegations of 1971 war crimes against eight Jamalpur and Mymensingh men.

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BAIL DENIAL

Reasoning that investigations were ongoing, the three-member tribunal led by Justice Anwarul Haque also directed the jail authorities to provide them necessary healthcare, Prosecutor Rezia Sultana Chaman told The Daily Star. 

The duo's counsels, in the January 25 bail petition, reasoned that Hannan was aged and, as a sitting lawmaker, wanted to take part in an ongoing parliament session while the duo were not mentioned in the primary charges. Prosecutors opposed it.

Hannan is the alleged general secretary of Mymensingh district Peace Committee and a lawmaker of Mymensingh-7 constituency.

He and Rafique were arrested along with Khandakar Golam Sabbir Ahmed, Mizanur Rahman Mintu and Hormuj Ali on October 1, 2015 hours after the tribunal issued a warrant for the eight. Mohammad Abdus Sattar, Mohammad Fakruzzaman and Khandakar Golam Rabbani are on the run.

PROBE REPORT

Prosecutor Abul Kalam had sought two months to provide the report and submitted one on the probe's progress.

Of the eight, Rezaul Haque alias Akkas Moulvi, Yunus Ali, his brother AKM Yusuf Alam and Omar Faruk are now in jail. The rest four, Belayet Hossain, Nasir Uddin, Helal Uddin and Kazi Musfiqur Rahman alias Chand Kazi, are on the run.

The prosecution says the eight were allegedly involved with the Razakar and Al-Badr Bahini, two auxiliary forces of the Pakistani occupation army, and the case's investigation officer already found their "involvement" in crimes including genocide and murders.