DHAKA NEWS
Dhaka, Feb 26 The war crimes tribunal told daily Janakantha senior reporter Bikash Dutta to print rejoinders for two of his reports regarding witness testimonies against Delwar Hossain Sayedee.
The International Crimes Tribunal, set up to try crimes against humanity during 1971 Liberation War, indicted the Jamaat-e-Islami executive council member Sayedee on 20 counts of such crimes on Oct 3.
Sayedee's defence had brought a contempt petition on Feb 23 citing two reports of the Bengali daily claiming that the report headlines were grossly misleading.
The tribunal chairman on that day decided to put the matter on hold since the reporter concerned was not present at the court at that time.
On Sunday, Justice Nizamul Huq, the tribunal chairman, cautioned the journalists about coverage of the war crimes tribunal.
He said in his observation that Dutta's first report that defence counsel Tajul Islam had annexed in his petition was indeed "highly contemptuous" and he recalled cautioning the press on that instance.
Tribunal chief Justice Huq asked soon after convening the court whether the Janakantha reporter was present. Upon his response, Huq asked him to sit down and began to address Bikash Dutta about his reports.
But ATM Fazle Kabir intervened saying that the journalist should remain standing. The tribunal chairman agreed and Dutta was told to stand up as Huq began to address him.
Huq continued, "These reports that you file about the tribunal, and I am addressing all the journalists through you, you should be cautious."
"I was saying just the other day that we have thickened our skin," said Justice Huq, referring to a number of reports that did not reflect the facts.
Refraining from citing any examples, the tribunal chief said that the judges of the tribunal got to read a number of newspapers and found that many of the papers did not quite reproduce what was being said in the courtroom.
"Please brother journalists, be cautious in future," Huq said addressing the entire press present in his court. "I hope this will be the last time that I have to say this."
"It is indeed unfair that you will report only parts of the proceedings that go against a certain party and not the rest. It is possible that there are human errors, but mind you partial reporting is quite obvious when we read the reports. And we understand it well."
The tribunal chairman said in his observation said that journalists must be "careful and cautious" so that such misreporting does not recur.
Justice Huq said the judges were there to make sure that the prosecution, defence or the accused do not suffer slander "and it is our duty to look after that".
The tribunal chief concluded saying, "I really do not like to say these every now and then. We find it thoroughly unpleasant."
Although Tajul Islam submitted to the tribunal chairman that he at least asked the reporter why he had done this, Huq replied that he was not inclined to hear the journalist.
"But this is absolutely crucifying me. I am being murdered in public!" said Islam on behalf of his client, Sayedee.
THE PETITION
Tajul Islam placed the petition bringing to the court's attention a report by the daily newspaper regarding the last witness testimony. The 27th prosecution witness, Saif Hafizur Rahman, sitting president of the Narail District Bar Association, had told the court his brother Saif Mizanur Rahman and two other had been abducted by collaborators and later tortured and killed.
According to the witness, Sayedee was present in the car that took his elder brother, Pirojpur magistrate during the Liberation War, to the Baleshwar River.
Mizanur Rahman was then stabbed with bayonets and later shot to death. His body was thrown into the river.
The headline of a news story reporting the witness testimony of Feb 20 published in the daily newspaper on Feb 21 puts Sayedee at the scene of murder. The headline reads, 'Paki soldiers stabbed my brother to death in front of Sayedee'. Tajul Islam, who generally argues most of the cases for all the Jamaat leaders, said that while the contents of the story were closer to the fact, the headline was damaging for his client.
"We would suffer prejudice with this kind of headline."
He also referred to a previous headline from another witness testimony that alleged Sayedee to have raped Madhusudan Gharami's newly wedded wife. On that instance Sayedee's defence had merely brought the headline to the court's attention which Justice Nizamul Huq said was wrong.
Tajul Islam said there was a clear trend of maligning his client and was of the opinion that such news was contemptuous.
He began his petition saying, "We are not against any individual or any particular media outlet but this kind of news prejudices the party."
Justice Nizamul Huq advised the counsel saying that there had been numerous reports about the tribunal and the tribunal, in response, had learnt to grow a thicker skin.
The tribunal chairman then asked the counsellor, "Do you want to set fire to an entire village with this little match stick?"
Justice Huq was obviously referring to the can of worms that the defence petition could potentially lead to.
Tajul Islam then referred to the famous saying of Joseph Goebbels, in charge of propaganda of Nazi Germany, and told the judges that these were lies. "But just like Goebbels had said, if you keep repeating it often enough, it becomes the truth."
Tribunal member A T M Fazle Kabir said that the other headline, reporting the testimony of the prosecution's 23rd witness Madhusudan Gharami who had deposed on Feb 1, alleging Sayedee of rape was indeed wrong. "We also believe that heading was contemptuous." He did not, however, comment on the headline published on Feb 21.
Justice Nizamul Huq then called for Bikash Datta, the reporter who generally covers the tribunal for Janakantha. Upon finding that Datta was not present, Justice Huq queried if there was anyone from the paper. There was no one present from the paper.
He then ordered that the petition remain pending until Sunday and asked that the reporter be present on that day.
Addressing the media in the court room, he clarified, "This is not an order for him to appear before the court, mind you."
"I am merely asking him to be present in the court when the petition goes up for hearing."
FIRST CASE TO TRIAL
Sayedee's is the first case to proceed to the trial stage at the tribunal. The prosecution on Sept 4 proposed framing of charges against him on 31 counts for crimes against humanity and genocide.
On Oct 3, the tribunal indicted Sayedee on 20 counts.
The tribunal also sent Jamaat's former chief Ghulam Azam to jail on Jan 11. His indictment hearing began on Feb 15 and the tribunal rejected his second bail petition on Thursday.
Besides Sayedee, Jamaat chief Matiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed and assistant secretaries general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla, and Bangladesh Nationalist Party's standing committee member and MP Salauddin Quader Chowdhury have been detained on war crimes charges.
The tribunal granted conditional bail to former BNP lawmaker and minister Abdul Alim on March 31 last year. The bail was extended further on Jan 16, ordering him to be present in the court on Mar 15 when the prosecution has been directed to submit formal charges against the BNP leader.
