Bergman to be tried for contempt of court
A special tribunal in Dhaka today decided to start trial of David Bergman, a Dhaka-based British journalist, for his write-ups that questioned the Liberation War death figure and demeaned dignity of the court.
The International Crimes Tribunal-2 led by its Chairman Justice Obaidul Hassan also asked Bergman to reply in 15 days why punitive action should not be taken against him for his remarks.
In its order, the three-member panel said the tribunal is not satisfied with Bergman's reply that he submitted on March 18 following the court’s order.
Preliminary element of contempt of court has been found in his remarks, the tribunal said.
Later, it fixed May 11 for further hearing on the matter.
Bergman was present at the packed courtroom during today’s hearing.
#bangladesh tribunal judges move to initiate contempt proceedings. See this, further written response, for the record http://t.co/Rg59eVSUOZ
— David Bergman (@davidbangladesh) April 17, 2014
The tribunal on March 31 fixed today (April 17) for a decision on contempt proceedings against Bergman for his write-ups.
In response to a contempt petition filed by a Supreme Court lawyer, the tribunal on February 20 asked Bergman to explain his write-ups posted on his personal blog that focused on the indictment order passed on Delawar Hossain Sayedee and the verdict in the case against Abul Kalam Azad.
The petitioner alleged that Bergman, in an article titled "Sayedee indictment-1971 deaths" on November 11, 2011 had "made relentless efforts to justify that the tribunal was absolutely wrong in mentioning three million deaths and the number of 200,000 women raped in 1971 with reference to various unsupported, inconsistent and contradictory sources”.
Barmen came up with the remarks after the ICT-1 on October 3, 2011 mentioned the death figures in its indictment order in the war crimes case against Sayedee.
Comments