BANGLADESH NEWS
Dhaka, May 14 Tempers flared across the first war crimes tribunal of Bangladesh as the case against BNP MP Salauddin Quader Chowdhury commenced with the examination of the first prosecution witness.
The court went into lunch recess after the BNP policymaker indicted for 23 charges of crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War managed to irritate the International Crimes Tribunal-1 chairman, Justice Mohammad Nizamul Huq, with his repetitive interventions during the cross-examination.
Justice Huq adjourned the proceedings of the case until Tuesday morning in an order which cautioned Salauddin Quader for the 'last time'.
Appearing as the first witness, 75-year old Dhaka University Professor Emeritus Dr Anisuzzaman had earlier told the court about the description of Nutan Chandra Singha's murder at the hands of Pakistani soldiers and Salauddin Quader himself.
According to the description, Pakistani soldiers had come to speak to Nutan Chandra, founder of Kundeshwari Girls School and Kundeshwari Oushadhalaya, and were about to leave when at the signal of Salauddin Quader, they returned and dragged him out and shot him.
Anisuzzaman recounted what others had told him and said that the witnesses had said Salauddin Quader went up to the dying Nutan Chandra and shot him to death.
At one point of cross-examination, the defence asked Dr Anisuzzaman, appearing as the first prosecution witness, why he, along with his family, had migrated to what was then East Pakistan from India in 1947.
The tribunal told defence counsel Fakhrul Islam that he could not ask that the question. But the six-time MP from Chittagong stood up to demand why the question could not be asked.
Fakhrul Islam then asked whether the professor and his family had come to East Pakistan as refugees. The professor said the people who came to Pakistan could perhaps be commonly termed as refugees. "But we never claimed any benefits or privileges as refugees."
The defence counsel then asked when Anisuzzaman had become a citizen of Pakistan to which the tribunal chairman said there are laws that explain the matter and indicated that the question need not be asked.
The BNP leader in the dock was not satisfied with the decision and stood up to make a point. He said, "I have remained quiet until now. But I have a right to cross-examine the witness, and I will"
Justice Huq said, "Not while your counsels are present."
The chairman tried to explain that the counsels were conducting the cross-examination and the accused should not interfere. However, Salauddin Quader refused to keep quiet.
As the voices of both the accused and the tribunal chairman rose while words went back and forth, Justice Huq loudly said, "Mr Chowdhury!"
"Mr Nizamul Huq!" replied Chowdhury in his booming voice, and continued quickly reverting to a more respectful address, "Sir, please do not show me your red eye. I request you with all respect and humility."
Order
Salauddin Quader kept repeating to the tribunal chief suggesting that the judge should not try to intimidate him. Failing to calm down the accused, Justice Huq finally decided to issue an order.
He noted in the order that the court had intervened several times to calm down both the prosecution and the defence during the cross-examination. "But the accused frequently stood up to speak in the tribunal."
The order went on to note that the accused, meaning Salauddin Quader, had his own counsel and thus would not be allowed to talk in the court.
Justice Huq also stated in his order that his court had previously cautioned the accused over similar behaviour. "We caution the accused for last time."
The war crimes trial against Salauddin Quader will continue in his absence if he, however, did not give up this tendency, the order said.
The tribunal on April 19 amended its rules and included a new provision allowing it to conduct a trial in the absence of an accused if that person proved to be uncontrollably unruly.
Paragraph 43B states, "At any stage of the proceedings or trial of a case, if the tribunal sees unruly behaviour of the accused which is not easy to control or manage, then the tribunal may, for its safety and dignity, dispense with the personal attendance of the accused, and direct him to appear by his counsel."
Malum at a loss
Prosecutor Zead-Al-Malum began the day amid hitches and soon after he began with the witness deposition, both defence counsels — Ahsanul Haq appearing after a long time — threw up their hands objecting strongly, that it was a leading question.
The tribunal told them that the judges were listening too and would tell the prosecutor whether the question would be allowed or not.
Prosecutor Malum told the court such loud and sudden interjections were unwelcome. "Such shouts put pressure on my nerves threatening to cause irreparable damage."
The deposition continued, but soon, after a few more questions, Justice Huq himself interrupted, just as the defence counsels were on the verge of objecting again.
The judge told the prosecutor that he could not ask the question in that manner. "Any question that elicits 'yes' or 'no' as an answer is a leading question and cannot be put to the witness."
Prosecutor Malum's first witness was describing the chain of events that followed the Pakistani Army's crackdown of Mar 25, 1971.
Dr Anisuzzaman had said that he along with a number of other teachers had sent their families, numbering about 50 people, to Kundeshwari Girls School where they were given shelter.
The professor went there himself in the beginning of April that year and had met Nutan Chandra Singha and spoke with him.
Malum then asked, "Did you tell him to come with you?"
Justice Huq intervened again saying it was a leading question and explained that such leading questions provide pointers to the witness about the line of expected answer. "It appears that the reply is being given out even before he answers the question."
He told the prosecutor to skip the question and proceed.
Anisuzzaman said that he reached Ramgarh in India around Apr 10.
Malum asked, "Did you meet any of Nutan Chandra's family there?"
Justice Huq intervened. "Again!" indicating that this was another leading question.
The tribunal chair told the prosecutor, "Do take help from your seniors."
In reply, Malum said 'leading' question was a technical term and cited Section (19.1) of the tribunal's law which says that it won't be tied by technical rules of evidence.
"A Tribunal shall not be bound by technical rules of evidence; and it shall adopt and apply to the greatest possible extent expeditious and non-technical procedure, and may admit any evidence, including reports and photographs published in newspapers, periodicals and magazines, films and tape-recordings and other materials as may be tendered before it, which it deems to have probative value."
Justice Huq replied, "No matter what you say, we are not going to allow this question."
Malum appeared to miss the point completely and asked, "When you were in Ramgarh in India, did you happen to speak to any of Nutan Chandra's family members?"
The tribunal made it clear that this question would not be allowed and advised Malum that he could ask the witness who he had met in that place, which is what the prosecutor did.
However, the prosecutor came up with another leading question when defence counsel Fakhrul Islam threw up his hands in exasperation as the tribunal once again had to intervene and said that it was a leading question and could not be allowed.
Malum stood at the podium, evidently at a loss, when Fakhrul Islam suggested to the court, "It is better that the witness is allowed to say all that he wishes to state and the prosecutor can take it from there, if needed."
The judges agreed and Dr Anisuzzaman was allowed to tell the rest of his story.
Malum, however, managed to fire another leading question just before wrapping up the 'examination in chief' of the witness.
Deposition
Dr Anisuzzaman's testimony related to two instances of war crimes allegedly committed by Salauddin Quader during the Liberation War.
The first one was about the murder of Kundeshwari founder Nutan Chandra Singha about which he had heard after the war ended and the professor was back on the campus at his old job.
He visited Kundeshwari to meet old acquaintances where his family had once been given shelter and also to express his gratitude.
He had already stated that Prafulla, Nutan Chandra's youngest son, whom he met during his stay in Ramgarh, had said that his father was no more.
There, at Kundeshwari, Anisuzzaman said he heard from witnesses that on Apr 13 Pakistani soldiers had come to Kundeshwari along with Salauddin Quader, who was apparently known as a 'Major'.
The soldiers interrogated Nutan Chandra and were about to leave when, according to witness accounts as recounted by Anisuzzaman, at the signal of Salauddin Quader they came back and dragged Nutan Chandra out of Kundeshwari premises.
"The soldiers fired upon Nutan Chandra, and even as he lay there in agony, the accused went up close and shot him dead with his sidearm."
He mentioned another event where a Chittagong University, one Md Saleh Uddin, currently the Vice-Chancellor of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Sylhet, was picked up by Pakistani army collaborators and taken to Goods Hill, Salauddin Quader's ancestral home where his father Fazlul Quader Chowdhury, a Muslim League leader and National Assembly Speaker, also lived.
Saleh Uddin was tortured inhumanly at Goods Hill by Salauddin Quader and others for keeping contact with the freedom fighters.
Fakhrul matches Malum
Fakhrul Islam's cross-examination also saw the tribunal intervene a few times, as counsels of both sides had a war of words with Salauddin Quader joining the fray a few too many times.
The first intervention from the tribunal was when Fakhrul Islam attempted to ask Anisuzzaman about his birthplace which he had stated as Khulna in an application, which was attached to his book, (page 96), titled 'Amar Ekattur' — meaning My 71.
The professor had said during his deposition that he was born in Kolkata.
The tribunal Chairman said that the book had not been entered as an exhibit and therefore it could not be referred to at this moment.
After a heated discussion, tribunal member Judge A K M Zaheer Ahmed told the defence counsels that they could very well submit the book as evidence along with their list of witnesses and other documents.
As for the moment, the tribunal advised that the defence could suggest a contradiction without referring to the book since it was not mentioned in the deposition.
The tribunal also shot down the defence prayers for adjournment until it submitted its documents and had a chance to go through the deposition.
Fakhrul Islam then proceeded to give the 'simple suggestion' as Justice Nizamul Huq had said but managed to match his counterpart from the prosecution and failed despite repeated attempts.
When Justice Huq told the counsel that he should merely suggest that the witness was not born in Kolkata, Fakhrul Islam said, "You are shifting from your position."
The tribunal told him, "Not at all. You should know how to ask a question."
Upon Fakhrul Islam's failure, the tribunal chief told him, "Suggest to him, 'You were not born in Kolkata', and proceed from there."
The defence counsel repeated the judge verbatim, to which Dr Anisuzzaman said, he was indeed born in the West Bengal capital.
Dr Anisuzzaman went on to explain that his birthplace was mentioned as Khulna when he went to get a passport in 1955, however, it was legally changed back to Kolkata in 1996 as he furnished the relevant authorities with all the required documents.
Salauddin Quader in ICT
The prosecution submitted formal charges against Salauddin Quader on Nov 14, 2011 and the tribunal took them into cognisance three days later.
A former prime ministerial adviser on parliamentary affairs when BNP chief Khaleda Zia was in office, the Chittagong MP was shown arrested for war crimes charges on Dec 20, 2010, five days after his arrest.
The investigating agency submitted a 119-page report with around 8,000-page data to the chief prosecutor on Oct 3 in a bid to prove allegations of war crimes during the 1971 Liberation War.
The BNP leader was indicted on Apr 4 on 23 charges of war crimes.
Besides Jamaat-e-Islami executive council member Delwar Hossain Sayedee whose case is the most advanced and Salauddin Quader, Jamaat chief Matiur Rahman Nizami, Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed and assistant secretaries general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla have been detained on war crimes charges.
The tribunal also sent Jamaat-e-Islami's former chief Ghulam Azam to jail on Jan 11 and indicted him on five different charges on May 13.
The second tribunal, set up on Mar 22, 2012, has given Abdul Alim, former BNP MP Abdul Alim and member of Ziaur Rahman's cabinet, an indefinite while his trial proceeds.
The court went into lunch recess after the BNP policymaker indicted for 23 charges of crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War managed to irritate the International Crimes Tribunal-1 chairman, Justice Mohammad Nizamul Huq, with his repetitive interventions during the cross-examination.
Justice Huq adjourned the proceedings of the case until Tuesday morning in an order which cautioned Salauddin Quader for the 'last time'.
Appearing as the first witness, 75-year old Dhaka University Professor Emeritus Dr Anisuzzaman had earlier told the court about the description of Nutan Chandra Singha's murder at the hands of Pakistani soldiers and Salauddin Quader himself.
According to the description, Pakistani soldiers had come to speak to Nutan Chandra, founder of Kundeshwari Girls School and Kundeshwari Oushadhalaya, and were about to leave when at the signal of Salauddin Quader, they returned and dragged him out and shot him.
Anisuzzaman recounted what others had told him and said that the witnesses had said Salauddin Quader went up to the dying Nutan Chandra and shot him to death.
At one point of cross-examination, the defence asked Dr Anisuzzaman, appearing as the first prosecution witness, why he, along with his family, had migrated to what was then East Pakistan from India in 1947.
The tribunal told defence counsel Fakhrul Islam that he could not ask that the question. But the six-time MP from Chittagong stood up to demand why the question could not be asked.
Fakhrul Islam then asked whether the professor and his family had come to East Pakistan as refugees. The professor said the people who came to Pakistan could perhaps be commonly termed as refugees. "But we never claimed any benefits or privileges as refugees."
The defence counsel then asked when Anisuzzaman had become a citizen of Pakistan to which the tribunal chairman said there are laws that explain the matter and indicated that the question need not be asked.
The BNP leader in the dock was not satisfied with the decision and stood up to make a point. He said, "I have remained quiet until now. But I have a right to cross-examine the witness, and I will"
Justice Huq said, "Not while your counsels are present."
The chairman tried to explain that the counsels were conducting the cross-examination and the accused should not interfere. However, Salauddin Quader refused to keep quiet.
As the voices of both the accused and the tribunal chairman rose while words went back and forth, Justice Huq loudly said, "Mr Chowdhury!"
"Mr Nizamul Huq!" replied Chowdhury in his booming voice, and continued quickly reverting to a more respectful address, "Sir, please do not show me your red eye. I request you with all respect and humility."
Order
Salauddin Quader kept repeating to the tribunal chief suggesting that the judge should not try to intimidate him. Failing to calm down the accused, Justice Huq finally decided to issue an order.
He noted in the order that the court had intervened several times to calm down both the prosecution and the defence during the cross-examination. "But the accused frequently stood up to speak in the tribunal."
The order went on to note that the accused, meaning Salauddin Quader, had his own counsel and thus would not be allowed to talk in the court.
Justice Huq also stated in his order that his court had previously cautioned the accused over similar behaviour. "We caution the accused for last time."
The war crimes trial against Salauddin Quader will continue in his absence if he, however, did not give up this tendency, the order said.
The tribunal on April 19 amended its rules and included a new provision allowing it to conduct a trial in the absence of an accused if that person proved to be uncontrollably unruly.
Paragraph 43B states, "At any stage of the proceedings or trial of a case, if the tribunal sees unruly behaviour of the accused which is not easy to control or manage, then the tribunal may, for its safety and dignity, dispense with the personal attendance of the accused, and direct him to appear by his counsel."
Malum at a loss
Prosecutor Zead-Al-Malum began the day amid hitches and soon after he began with the witness deposition, both defence counsels — Ahsanul Haq appearing after a long time — threw up their hands objecting strongly, that it was a leading question.
The tribunal told them that the judges were listening too and would tell the prosecutor whether the question would be allowed or not.
Prosecutor Malum told the court such loud and sudden interjections were unwelcome. "Such shouts put pressure on my nerves threatening to cause irreparable damage."
The deposition continued, but soon, after a few more questions, Justice Huq himself interrupted, just as the defence counsels were on the verge of objecting again.
The judge told the prosecutor that he could not ask the question in that manner. "Any question that elicits 'yes' or 'no' as an answer is a leading question and cannot be put to the witness."
Prosecutor Malum's first witness was describing the chain of events that followed the Pakistani Army's crackdown of Mar 25, 1971.
Dr Anisuzzaman had said that he along with a number of other teachers had sent their families, numbering about 50 people, to Kundeshwari Girls School where they were given shelter.
The professor went there himself in the beginning of April that year and had met Nutan Chandra Singha and spoke with him.
Malum then asked, "Did you tell him to come with you?"
Justice Huq intervened again saying it was a leading question and explained that such leading questions provide pointers to the witness about the line of expected answer. "It appears that the reply is being given out even before he answers the question."
He told the prosecutor to skip the question and proceed.
Anisuzzaman said that he reached Ramgarh in India around Apr 10.
Malum asked, "Did you meet any of Nutan Chandra's family there?"
Justice Huq intervened. "Again!" indicating that this was another leading question.
The tribunal chair told the prosecutor, "Do take help from your seniors."
In reply, Malum said 'leading' question was a technical term and cited Section (19.1) of the tribunal's law which says that it won't be tied by technical rules of evidence.
"A Tribunal shall not be bound by technical rules of evidence; and it shall adopt and apply to the greatest possible extent expeditious and non-technical procedure, and may admit any evidence, including reports and photographs published in newspapers, periodicals and magazines, films and tape-recordings and other materials as may be tendered before it, which it deems to have probative value."
Justice Huq replied, "No matter what you say, we are not going to allow this question."
Malum appeared to miss the point completely and asked, "When you were in Ramgarh in India, did you happen to speak to any of Nutan Chandra's family members?"
The tribunal made it clear that this question would not be allowed and advised Malum that he could ask the witness who he had met in that place, which is what the prosecutor did.
However, the prosecutor came up with another leading question when defence counsel Fakhrul Islam threw up his hands in exasperation as the tribunal once again had to intervene and said that it was a leading question and could not be allowed.
Malum stood at the podium, evidently at a loss, when Fakhrul Islam suggested to the court, "It is better that the witness is allowed to say all that he wishes to state and the prosecutor can take it from there, if needed."
The judges agreed and Dr Anisuzzaman was allowed to tell the rest of his story.
Malum, however, managed to fire another leading question just before wrapping up the 'examination in chief' of the witness.
Deposition
Dr Anisuzzaman's testimony related to two instances of war crimes allegedly committed by Salauddin Quader during the Liberation War.
The first one was about the murder of Kundeshwari founder Nutan Chandra Singha about which he had heard after the war ended and the professor was back on the campus at his old job.
He visited Kundeshwari to meet old acquaintances where his family had once been given shelter and also to express his gratitude.
He had already stated that Prafulla, Nutan Chandra's youngest son, whom he met during his stay in Ramgarh, had said that his father was no more.
There, at Kundeshwari, Anisuzzaman said he heard from witnesses that on Apr 13 Pakistani soldiers had come to Kundeshwari along with Salauddin Quader, who was apparently known as a 'Major'.
The soldiers interrogated Nutan Chandra and were about to leave when, according to witness accounts as recounted by Anisuzzaman, at the signal of Salauddin Quader they came back and dragged Nutan Chandra out of Kundeshwari premises.
"The soldiers fired upon Nutan Chandra, and even as he lay there in agony, the accused went up close and shot him dead with his sidearm."
He mentioned another event where a Chittagong University, one Md Saleh Uddin, currently the Vice-Chancellor of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Sylhet, was picked up by Pakistani army collaborators and taken to Goods Hill, Salauddin Quader's ancestral home where his father Fazlul Quader Chowdhury, a Muslim League leader and National Assembly Speaker, also lived.
Saleh Uddin was tortured inhumanly at Goods Hill by Salauddin Quader and others for keeping contact with the freedom fighters.
Fakhrul matches Malum
Fakhrul Islam's cross-examination also saw the tribunal intervene a few times, as counsels of both sides had a war of words with Salauddin Quader joining the fray a few too many times.
The first intervention from the tribunal was when Fakhrul Islam attempted to ask Anisuzzaman about his birthplace which he had stated as Khulna in an application, which was attached to his book, (page 96), titled 'Amar Ekattur' — meaning My 71.
The professor had said during his deposition that he was born in Kolkata.
The tribunal Chairman said that the book had not been entered as an exhibit and therefore it could not be referred to at this moment.
After a heated discussion, tribunal member Judge A K M Zaheer Ahmed told the defence counsels that they could very well submit the book as evidence along with their list of witnesses and other documents.
As for the moment, the tribunal advised that the defence could suggest a contradiction without referring to the book since it was not mentioned in the deposition.
The tribunal also shot down the defence prayers for adjournment until it submitted its documents and had a chance to go through the deposition.
Fakhrul Islam then proceeded to give the 'simple suggestion' as Justice Nizamul Huq had said but managed to match his counterpart from the prosecution and failed despite repeated attempts.
When Justice Huq told the counsel that he should merely suggest that the witness was not born in Kolkata, Fakhrul Islam said, "You are shifting from your position."
The tribunal told him, "Not at all. You should know how to ask a question."
Upon Fakhrul Islam's failure, the tribunal chief told him, "Suggest to him, 'You were not born in Kolkata', and proceed from there."
The defence counsel repeated the judge verbatim, to which Dr Anisuzzaman said, he was indeed born in the West Bengal capital.
Dr Anisuzzaman went on to explain that his birthplace was mentioned as Khulna when he went to get a passport in 1955, however, it was legally changed back to Kolkata in 1996 as he furnished the relevant authorities with all the required documents.
Salauddin Quader in ICT
The prosecution submitted formal charges against Salauddin Quader on Nov 14, 2011 and the tribunal took them into cognisance three days later.
A former prime ministerial adviser on parliamentary affairs when BNP chief Khaleda Zia was in office, the Chittagong MP was shown arrested for war crimes charges on Dec 20, 2010, five days after his arrest.
The investigating agency submitted a 119-page report with around 8,000-page data to the chief prosecutor on Oct 3 in a bid to prove allegations of war crimes during the 1971 Liberation War.
The BNP leader was indicted on Apr 4 on 23 charges of war crimes.
Besides Jamaat-e-Islami executive council member Delwar Hossain Sayedee whose case is the most advanced and Salauddin Quader, Jamaat chief Matiur Rahman Nizami, Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed and assistant secretaries general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla have been detained on war crimes charges.
The tribunal also sent Jamaat-e-Islami's former chief Ghulam Azam to jail on Jan 11 and indicted him on five different charges on May 13.
The second tribunal, set up on Mar 22, 2012, has given Abdul Alim, former BNP MP Abdul Alim and member of Ziaur Rahman's cabinet, an indefinite while his trial proceeds.
