Safe in his lair here because the British won’t extradite anyone to face death in another country, former al Badr leader Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin is bragging he can’t be hanged.
“Those who tried me may get to hang, but they can’t hang me,” the former al-Badr leader sentenced to death by the Bangladesh war crimes tribunal told bdnews24.com in an exclusive interview with UK Correspondent Syed Nahas Pasha.
This was his first fullmedia interview ever — in which Mueen-Uddin denied any complicity with the massacre of intellectuals during the last days of the 1971 Liberation War.
He has been awarded death penalty for his role in planning and executing these massacres.
Mueen-Uddin talks about his work, personal life and life in East London in the wide-ranging interview with bdnews24.com.
“The media in 1971 circulated false and made-up stories about my role in the war. Relatives of those murdered intellectuals have been influenced by these reports and have testified against me,” the al-Badr leader said.
“I had resigned from all political offices I held after the military action started on 25 March, 1971,” Mueen-Uddin said.
“Some Islamic scholars and leaders of Islamist groups who have been in the parliament for a long time have been implicated in these cases through dubious means,” Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin alleged in the interview to bdnews24.com.
He insisted he would not appeal against the death penalty awarded to him, because he was “never a part of this trial”.
Excerpts of the bdnews24.com interview:
bdnews24.com: What do you have to say about your death penalty?
Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin: This is a complete farce of a trial. Even before the investigators have filed their report to the prosecution, a judge was discussing on Skype with another so-called expert what punishment should be meted out to me. They had decided on my death penalty much before the investigations were over. What more do you expect from this court!
As a God-fearing devout Muslim, I would say life and death is not decided here but up there (pointing to the sky). If Allah the Almighty does not want, none can hang me. Some of those who have pronounced my death may be hanged but not me.
bdnews24.com: There are allegations about your role as an al-Badr commander, as a leader of the student affiliate of Jamaat-e-Islami in 1971 …
CM: All wrong, I was never with al-Badr. I was a member of the Islami Chhatra Sangha, (then) the student front of the Jamaat-e-Islami. But after the military action started, I resigned in protest from all political offices that I held at that time.
bdnews24.com: Which military action?
CM: The one that started after 25 March, 1971. After that, I resigned from all positions that I had been holding.
bdnews24.com: In that case, why have you not appointed a lawyer to defend you in court as you just said you leave the question of life and death to Allah the Almighty?
CM: How can I do that when the court trying me has not sent a notice to me or my lawyer? I am not hiding here, I lead an open and a transparent life here in London, I am open book. You can testify to that, can’t you? But this court which tried me never tried to put me on notice. So how do I go ahead appointing a lawyer to defend myself!
bdnews24.com: So you are suggesting neither the tribunal nor the government of Bangladesh ever tried to get in touch with you about the trial!
CM: No, not at all.
bdnews24.com: Not even through the high commission?
CM: Oh no, neither did the Bangladesh high commission contact me nor was a notice sent either to my address here in London or back in my country. That is because the court was keen on a one-sided trial all along. So in such circumstances, how do I get to appoint a lawyer to defend myself?
bdnews24.com: So are you suggesting that you did not appoint a lawyer because you were not contacted?
CM: Of course. How do you go about appointing a lawyer if you don’t get a notice from the court?
bdnews24.com: Now let’s take a look at the allegations against you … Professor Giasuddin Ahmed’s niece Masuda Huq Ratna has testified that you personally went to their house twice, the very house where Masuda used to stay for her studies. The second time you were there, she says she was involved in arguments with you and she knew who you were? How do you react to that?
CM: Let me make it clear, these witnesses and their testimonies have not been presented to me. I have never seen these things before. I only got to know these through the media, through you people. My lawyer is clear … we will not get into the specifics … let me say however that I don’t want to hurt the sentiments of those who lost their near and dear ones because I know they have suffered much. I don’t deny that Masuda Huq Ratna may have known who I was, though I cannot really place her. But whatever she is saying …
bdnews24.com: About the arguments she had with you?
CM: If they are so sure, why did they not file even a routine complaint with a police station for the last 40 (forty) years. I think they have all been influenced by the false media reports, they started believing them and so now they are testifying. I don’t remember anything about these incidents and I am sure they are all made up.
bdnews24.com: So you don’t remember the arguments you had with Ratna?
CM: I have never been to their house, so there is no question of arguments. Never, neither before nor after the war.
bdnews24.com: Journalist Selina Parvin’s son Sumon Jahid has said in his testimony that your (Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin’s) men blindfolded her and took her away and that their address was given to the al-Badr from the office of the ‘Dainik Purbodesh’ where you worked!
CM: This shows how stories are cooked up in the Bangladesh media. If an atrocity has taken place,the affected persons would file cases seeking redress. But here, the media first reports whatever they say happened and then those who feel they have been affected go to court and file cases.This is ridiculous.
bdnews24.com: Do you remember Ashrafuzzaman Khan?
CM: I knew Ashrafuzzaman Khan.
bdnews24.com: (Martyred intellectual) Professor Serajul Huq Khan’s son Enamul Huq Khan has testified in the tribunal that you and Ashrafuzzaman Khan were responsible for kidnapping his father. He was then a Masters studentat the Dhaka University. He has been able to identify you after your picture appeared in newspapers, those whose reports you have contested.
CM: I left the country after all these fabricated stories started appearing, not before that. I have lived in the country and I have been going there ever so often. If there were such clear evidence against me, why did no one take me to court all this while! If I had such evidence against someone,would I have waited all this long? I would have gone to a police station the following day and filed a complaint. So many people who have now testified against me have not bothered to go to court against me all these years. Has someone bothered to ask them this simple question? What were they doing all these years? If there was a proper trial, these allegations would not have stood any rigorous cross-examination. These people have started believing the tales spun by the media.
bdnews24.com: Have you protested against the reports in the media?
CM: The madness that gripped the country made it impossible to challenge any untruth. People have carried false reports following intimidation.
bdnews24.com: Are you suggesting the reports about you resulted from intimidation?
CM: Yes I have information that did happen.
Source: bdnews24
