No illegal detention for ICT trial: minister

DHAKA NEWS

Dhaka, Feb 25  Replying to a letter from the United Nations working group on trial procedure of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), the law minister has said no one being tried by the ICT for crimes against humanity had been detained "illegally".

"No one was arrested without any reason. The arrests were made based on (verified) information for trials," law minister barrister Shafique Ahamed said on Saturday at a views-exchange meeting of secretaries of various ministries and human rights commission members at a city hotel.

Barrister Abdur Razzak, counsel to Jamaat-e-Islami leaders standing trial at the tribunal, told a media briefing on Feb 15 that the UN working group has issued a statement regarding the 1973 International Crimes Tribunal Act.

In the letter, issued on Sep 23 last year, the UN group commented on the quality of the ongoing trials and the 1973 Act, barrister Razzak said.

Razzak said: "They (UN group) found evidence of mentionable 'obstruction' regarding the accused getting legal assistance, evidence and witnesses. The UN working group said the Bangladesh government must abide by international regulations for detention prior to trial."

"The trials at the tribunal must also follow the international law," he said quoting the UN group.

In reply, law minister Shafique Ahmed on Saturday said, "The tribunal is trying the accused for human rights violations during the 1971 Liberation War in Bangladesh. We have received a written statement from the United Nations. In it, they have claimed that the government illegally detained them."

The minister said detaining someone 'illegally' is not the same as 'arresting' someone for trial. He went on to describe the differences between the two procedures.

Detaining illegally is holding someone without any charge, information and whose trial procedures have not started. But there are definite charges against each of the arrestees standing trial at the ICT, he said.

"The investigation is going on, the trials have kicked off. So, these arrests can in no way be called 'illegal' detention," Shafique said.

The minister cited an example of a Cambodian accused held for around six years and said, "Various international tribunals on different occasions held accused for more than 10 years."

Former and current Jamaat chiefs Matiur Rahman Nizami and Ghulam Azam, Naeb-e-Ameer Delwar Hossain Sayedee, secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed and assistant secretaries general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla are currently standing trial at the ICT facing charges of murder, rape, loot and arson during the country's Liberation War.

Apart from them, Bangladesh Nationalist Party's (BNP) standing committee member and MP Salauddin Quader Chowdhury has also been detained on similar charges. The tribunal granted conditional bail to former BNP lawmaker and minister Abdul Alim.