Ministerial meeting on BDR trial deferred

File photoStar Online Report

The inter-ministerial meeting to decide the trial mode of the BDR mutiny, scheduled for this morning, has been deferred to 10:30am tomorrow.

The meeting was postponed, as Law Minister Shafique Ahmed joined another meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on home affairs ministry on the issue of a mobile court bill, information officer of the ministry Mizanur Rahman told The Daily Star.

Home Minister Sahara Khatun, State Minister for Law Qamrul Islam, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam, representatives from Bangladesh Army and Bangladesh Rifles, prosecutor of the mutiny probe and government high officials concerned are due to attend the ministerial meeting tomorrow, sources said.

Earlier on Sunday the law ministry received the SC opinion on the presidential reference on the issue and convened an inter-ministerial meeting.

Law Minister Shafique Ahmed officially announced the SC's opinion to journalists saying, "Although the Supreme Court has given opinion against holding trial of BDR mutiny under the army act, it has given some guidelines in this regard. We'll discuss the matter at an inter-ministerial meeting on Monday [today] to decide how the trial of the offenders can be completed expeditiously."

Supreme Court gave its opinion on the BDR trial mode upon receipt of a presidential reference on the issue.

After the Supreme Court's recent opinion against trying the BDR mutineers under the army act, Bangladesh Rifles requested the government to ensure a fast-track trial under any laws for the offences committed during the bloody mutiny on February 25-26.

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