2 more testify against Quasem
Two prosecution witnesses yesterday testified that Al-Badr men tortured them at an Al-Badr torture camp in Chittagong following the instructions of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem Ali during the Liberation War.
Mohammad Salauddin and his uncle Mohammad Zakaria of Golamali Najirbari area of Chittagong said Al-Badr men took them from their homes and tortured them inside the camp for several days to get information about freedom fighters.
The two were released after their family members made a deal with the Al-Badr that they would give information about freedom fighters regularly.
Salauddin and Zakaria, the ninth and 10th prosecution witness in Quasem's case, gave almost identical descriptions before the International Crimes Tribunal-2 about their detentions and ordeals.
Quasem, a member of Jamaat's central executive committee, is facing 14 charges for his alleged involvement in crimes against humanity committed in Chittagong during the war.
Salauddin, during his 30-minute testimony, said he had been working as an artist in Chittagong's Chawkbazar during the war and on the morning of November 30, Al-Badr men surrounded their house and detained him and his uncles Zakaria and Iskandar Alam Chowdhury, and cousin Nazim.
Salauddin said they were taken to the Dalim Hotel Al-Badr camp on a truck and kept confined to a room blindfolded.
After two or three days, he was tortured severely and after four or five days, one man took him to the first floor.
“When I was brought before Mir Quasem Ali [on the first floor], he asked me where the arms and freedom fighters were. If I don't give the information, I would be cut to pieces and dumped in the Karnaphuli river,” said Salauddin.
Salauddin said when he didn't answer, Quasem asked Al-Badr men to torture him more and his orders were carried out.
During his captivity, his father and another uncle went to Dalim Hotel and met Quasem. Al-Badr men had produced him before Quasem and his father and uncle, said Salauddin.
“Then Mir Quasem Ali said 'you are spared just because of your father. You go home, collect information about freedom fighters and provide us with the information',” he added.
After his testimony, Quasem's counsel Mizanul Islam completed cross-examining him before Zakaria testified and was cross-examined.
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