The first war crimes tribunal of Bangladesh on Sunday allowed a day's interrogation of Jamaat-e-Islami policymaker Mir Quasem Ali, said to be among the main financiers of the party.
Set up to try crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, the three-judge International Crimes Tribunal – 1 had ordered Quasem Ali's arrest on Jun 17 upon an application of the prosecution.
The first prosecution witness, Mozaffar Ahmed Khan, against Jamaat assistant secretary general Abdul Quader Molla, was cross-examined on Sunday. Defence counsel Mohammad Ekramul Huq is expected to get through his questioning within the first-half of Monday.
Head of a media company that runs a daily newspaper and a television station, Mir Quasem Ali is also the founder of Ibn Sina Trust which runs a number of institutions including a hospital.
In response to an application for three days' interrogation, tribunal Chairman Justice Mohammad Nizamul Huq allowed one day at a safe home, where a counsel and a doctor would also be present, but in a separate room.
Quasem Ali is accused of leading crimes such as torture and murder during the Liberation War in 1971 in Chittagong as the local head of the vigilante militia Al Badr, which is largely said to be responsible for numerous atrocities on civilians along with the other such militias like the Razakar and Al Shams.
Quasem Ali, according to the prosecution, went on to feature as the number three of the national Al Badr command structure during the Independence War.
The Jamaat leader is alleged to have forcibly taken over the Mahamaya Bhaban, renaming it as Dalim Hotel, where the vigilante militia confined and tortured people suspected of being sympathetic to the liberation forces.
The Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, which was then called Chhatra Sangha, is widely alleged to have mobilised the vigilante groups that actively collaborated with Pakistanis to thwart the liberation efforts.
The tribunal ordered that the prosecution should notify the defence at least two days ahead of their desired date of interrogation. The order also directed the prosecution to submit a progress of the investigation against Quasem Ali by Aug 12, or submit the formal charge against him.
Defence counsel Tajul Islam had opposed the prosecution's application for interrogation saying that the prosecutors could not show any appropriate reason that warranted interrogation.
Time Limit
The leading counsel for the Jamaat leaders facing war crimes charges, Abdur Razzaq, kicked off the day's proceedings with a plea that the tribunal recall its unsigned order setting time limits on witness testimony and cross examination.
Noting that the counsel had travelled to many other places and was familiar with the provisions of other such tribunals, Justice Huq told Razzaq, "This law is available everywhere and this process applied."
Razzaq cited other cases from Sierra Leone and former Yugoslavia that took up to three or four years to complete. He said that there was no reason, however, to believe that there was an unreasonable delay as far as Ghulam Azam's case was concerned. "It has only begun."
Justice Huq said, "The order is not regarding that case. It will apply to both the parties and all the cases."
Razzaq continued with his reservations about the order the tribunal had passed on Thursday, saying that if international standards were indeed the norm then the court would not be concerned with public opinion.
"I believe you have not been briefed about the matter appropriately. You will see what we said when you get the order," said Justice Huq. He continued to reassure the senior defence lawyer that there would not be any prejudice to the defence. "We shall look after the matter."
Razzaq again pointed out that if the counsels ever tried to waste the court's time then the tribunal would stop them.
Justice Huq explained that from now on, the tribunal would set the time for cross-examination and examination of witnesses.
"But sometimes there are difficult witnesses and the same question has to be repeated twice," said Razzaq.
"It is not that we will sit here with our ears sealed and eyes shut. In such cases you will certainly be given due consideration," said Justice Huq.
This, however, failed to reassure the defence counsel who still pleaded that the court recall its order.
Justice Huq ended the matter with a simple, "Sorry."
The court then moved on to the cross-examination of Sayedee's war crimes investigator ASP Mohammad Helal Uddin. The tribunal chief was quick to remind senior defence counsel Mizanul Islam that the investigator had been stuck with the cross-examination for a long and it should be wrapped up soon.
"I am not setting a time limit yet, but do take a mental preparation to get through it quickly."
The counsel replied that he was not wasting the tribunal's time, neither was he asking irrelevant questions.
The cross-examination has been adjourned till Thursday till which time the stenographer would be on leave.
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