Hearing on Ghulam Azam's discharge petition adjourned
The International Crimes Tribunal-1 yesterday adjourned the hearing of former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Ghulam Azam's discharge petition till tomorrow.
The three-judge tribunal led by Justice Md Nizamul Huq adjourned the proceedings after hearing a lengthy discharge application from Abdur Razzaq, the chief counsel for Jamaat, and Tanvir Ahmed Al-Amin, another counsel.
After hearing the arguments of the defence, the tribunal will decide whether it will indict Ghulam Azam on 62 charges of crimes against humanity that he allegedly committed during the 1971 Liberation War.
The 89-year-old, who was produced before the court yesterday, is among six Jamaat and two BNP leaders facing war crimes charges at the tribunal.
With a new tribunal functioning from yesterday, the first tribunal set up on March 25, 2010, is now referred to as the International Crimes Tribunal-1, according to a gazette notification issued last Thursday.
Responding to the prosecution's prayer for framing the charges, Razzaq yesterday argued that the case was brought 40 years later as Jamaat had become a major political factor.
The International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973, being used to try the war criminals, was enacted to hold the trial of 195 Pakistani prisoners of the 1971 Liberation War who were sent back to their country. It was not meant for their collaborators or any Bangladeshi, he argued.
He also argued that there was no apparent case against his client as brought by the prosecution.
Yesterday, Muhammad Kamaruzzaman's defence counsels were supposed to present their arguments against the charges brought against the Jamaat assistant secretary general. It was adjourned till March 29.
Meanwhile, the hearing of a prosecution's application on the future course of action regarding witnesses' testimonies in a case against Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee was adjourned till tomorrow.
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