WAR TRIAL Gallows for SQ Ch

A special tribunal in Dhaka Tuesday awarded opposition lawmaker Salauddin Quader Chowdhury death penalty for murder and genocide during the country’s 1971 War of Independence.

Nine out of 23 charges levelled against the 64-year-old lawmaker from the main opposition party, BNP, were proved beyond doubt.

Chowdhury got death penalty in four cases, which were filed for murder and genocide, 20-year imprisonment in three cases and five-year in two cases, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told journalists emerging from the courtroom around 1:30pm.

Meanwhile, the convict’s family and counsels said they would appeal against it with the Supreme Court.

New Controversy

Terming the verdict “dictated by the law ministry”, the convict’s lawyer Fakhrul Islam alleged that the judgment was available on Internet before the court sat today.

“The copy of the verdict was found in a computer of the law ministry. There should be retrial,” he told journalists at the tribunal premises.

Asked how the information was leaked and found on Internet, the AG termed it as “guesswork”.

As soon as the announcement ended, Salauddin Quader stood up from his seat and questioned the authenticity of the verdict.

“This verdict has come from the law ministry. I want to thank the law ministry for the verdict,” the Bangla daily Prothom Alo quoted the BNP leader as saying.

Judgement

In a jam-packed courtroom, Justice Anwarul Haque, a judge on the three-member panel of ICT-1, started reading out a summary of the verdict at 10:45am.

After reading out of the summary, Justice ATM Fazle Kabir, chairman of the panel, pronounced the punishment.

Chowdhury was handed death penalty for four offences: killing of Nutan Singh, founder of herbal medicine factory Kundeshwari Oushadhalaya; killing people at Sultanpur Banikpara at Raozan; killing at Unasattar Para in Raozan, and killing of Awami League leader Sheikh Mozaffar Ahmed and his son Sheikh Alamgir at Raozan.

The three charges which earned the BNP leader 20 years’ jail are: committing genocide at Maddhaya Gohira Hindupara at Raozan, killing of 32 Hindu people at Jogotmollopara, and killing, arson attack and deportation.

Five-year imprisonment was awarded in two cases filed for abduction, confinement and torture on unarmed pro-liberation activists at Chittagong Goods Hill torture cell.

The court said the prosecution has failed to prove eight charges levelled against Chowdhury.

The prosecution could not produce any witness in connection with rest six charges.

Around 10:00am, a contingent of security men guarded Chowdhury as he was taken to the prison cell of the ICT in a prison van.

Five minutes before the start of the proceedings, he was produced before the tribunal.

Heightened Security

While security was tightened at and around the tribunal, additional security measures were taken at different parts of the capital, including the High Court, Doel Chattar, Paltan and BNP headquarters at Naya Paltan area, to avert any untoward incident.

In Raozan where Chowdhury is based and allegedly carried out atrocities during the Liberation War, security has been beefed up as the family of the victims and those who testified against Chowdhury are gripped by fear of reprisal.

Apart from police and Rab, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) troops were deployed in almost all the key parts of the Chittagong in the morning.

Case Background

Chowdhury was arrested on December 16, 2010 at Banani in the capital in connection with the torching of a car at Moghbazar on June 26 the same year.

After the ICT issued an arrested warrant on December 19, 2010, he was shown arrested for involvement with crimes against humanity.

According to the prosecution, Chowdhury was involved in the killings of Nutan Singh, founder of herbal medicine factory Kundeshwari Oushadhalaya, and 35 people at Jagatmallo Para and 69 others at Unasattar Para in Chittagong during the War of Independence.

Primary investigation shows Chowdhury with the help of Pakistan occupation forces led the murders and tortures near his Goods Hill residence in the port city, said the prosecution.

The prosecution sought the death penalty for the BNP leader while the defence claimed that the prosecution had failed to prove any of the 23 charges and appealed for his acquittal.

Forty-one prosecution witnesses, including an “eyewitness” who had claimed to have seen Chowdhury shoot and kill Nutan Chandra Sinha during the 1971 Liberation War, gave their testimony.

The defence was able to bring in four witnesses, including the accused and his cousin, in its bid to prove he was innocent and that he was not in the country during the war.

Earlier on August 14, the tribunal kept the Chowdhury case CAV (Curia Advisari Vult, a Latin legal term meaning verdict would be delivered anytime).

On Monday, ICT-1 chairman announced the date for delivery of the judgement Monday.