Verdict leak: 2 detained ICT staff placed remand

ICT-SQC1

Two staff of the International Crimes Tribunals, arrested in connection with the leakage of the draft verdict on condemned convict war criminal BNP MP Salauddin Quader Chowdhury,  were put on eight-day police remand each on Saturday.

 

Both the accused — Nayan Ali, a master-roll cleaner of the ICT-1 and its office assistant Faruque Hossain — were produced before the court.

 

After hearing a petition filed by inspector of the Detective Branch (DB) of Police Mohammad Shahjahan, also the investigation officer (IO) of the case, seeking a 10-day remand for each of the duo, Metropolitan magistrate MA Salam passed the order.

 

In the petition, the IO said the duo accused need to be put on remand to unearth in detail the information about the leakage of the draft verdict in the interest of proper investigation.

 

Earlier, the court rejected the pleas moved by Zainul Abedin Mesbah, the counsel for the accused, seeking for cancellation of the remand and bails to his clients.

 

DB inspector Fazlur Rahman filed a case with Shahbagh Police Station in connection with the leakage of the ICT verdict on Friday under the Information and Communication Technology Act.

 

On Tuesday, the ICT-1 sentenced BNP policymaker Salauddin Quader Chowdhury to death for committing crimes against humanity, including genocide, during the 1971 Liberation War.

 

However, the ICT verdict without containing the judges’ observations and sentences got circulated on different websites before it was pronounced by the tribunal.

 

Addressing the briefing at the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Media centre in the city on Friday, DB joint commissioner Monirul Islam said Nayan Ali provided the draft verdict in part to Mehedi Hasan, an assistant of SQ Chowdhury’s counsel Barrister Fakhrul Islam, through a pen drive in exchange for huge money. Another ICT employee Faruk was also involved in the act, he added.

Source: UNBConnect