Dhaka, Sep 30 The International Crimes Tribunal-1 convened a little after 3pm on Sunday due to, what the court said, 'an engagement with the Supreme Court' and ordered that cross-examination of the first prosecution witness against Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami would be held on Oct 10.
The court then began deposing the 13th prosecution witness against Jamaat guru Ghulam Azam in camera as the prosecution had appealed.
Although the court generally allows two counsels for the defence and prosecution each, tribunal Chairman Justice Mohammad Nizamul Huq readily agreed to Jamaat defence counsel Mizanul Islam's plea that the defence be allowed to have three counsels present.
Although he had not applied beforehand, Prosecutor Zead-Al-Malum requested that his witness' deposition be held in camera.
Justice Huq said, "It does not look nice that I ask the people to leave."
"But the sensitivity of the case transcends niceties," said the prosecutor. "Surely it does," agreed the judge.
Malum continued that this woman was the wife and mother of those killed during the Liberation War.
Jamaat guru Ghulam Azam is charged with the murder of 38. Siru Miah and his son Anwar Kamal had been among 38 people executed in Brahmanbaria during the war.
Siru Miah's wife had tried to secure letter from Azam that she hoped would get her husband off the hook, but that did not happen. The last two witnesses have set the scene leading up to establishment of Azam's link in the execution.
Malum continued to press his case, when Justice Huq, after a brief word with the two other tribunal members, agreed.
"We rise for five minutes, and in the meantime we expect that everyone will do the needful," he said.
The proceedings began with Jamaat chief counsel Abdur Razzaq requesting that the court hear an application for securing division for Subhan. The tribunal Chairman, however, was reluctant in hearing the matter and insisted several times that the defence counsel file a formal application first.
The counsel then also brought up a number of media reports covering the deposition of a prosecution witness against Ghulam Azam.
When Abdur Razzaq, first mentioned a report in the daily Amader Orthoneeti, Justice Huq said there were way too many newspapers and there was no point being concerned about every single one of them. "Let the small newspapers be."
The defence counsel pointed that the Jamaat mouthpiece, the daily Sangram, was a relatively small newspaper with little circulation. "But your lordship deals with it mercilessly."
"No, no that is not right. You cannot say mercilessly," said Justice Huq.
He went on that he and the Sangram correspondent, Shahidul Islam, exchange glances regularly and he regularly tells them in case of omissions in his reports.
Razzaq then submitted a printout of a bdnews24.com report from Sep 26, headlined 'Ghulam Azam caused murders of 38' which he indicated was incorrect. The counsel also insisted that an appropriate order would be passed in a few days.
The tribunal Chairman said, "The [bdnews24.com] people are here and they can read what is going through our minds. I expect they will act accordingly."
The judge also mentioned that he had cautioned another news portal banglanews24.com on Thursday.
bdnews24.com/ta/bd/1912h
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