Bangladesh court indicts ex-home minister Babar, 31 others

A Sylhet court yesterday framed charges against BNP leaders Lutfozzaman Babar and Harris Chowdhury and 30 others in former finance minister SAMS Kibria murder case.

The trial of the case is set to begin with the recording of testimony of the plaintiff on September 21, more than a decade after the killing.

Judge Makbul Ahsan of Sylhet Speedy Trial Tribunal fixed the date yesterday.

The then opposition lawmaker and Awami League leader SAMS Kibria and four others, including his nephew Shah Manzur Huda and local AL leader Abdur Rahim, were killed in a grenade attack on a rally in Habiganj on January 27, 2005.

The incident has been probed three times and the investigators have pressed charges thrice against 32 people, including Babar and Harris.

The case proceedings were delayed further, as the court deferred the charge framing nine times due to illness of one of the accused, suspended Sylhet city mayor Ariful Haq Chowdhury, who is now in jail. 

Misbah Uddin Siraj, public prosecutor of Sylhet District and Sessions Judge's Court, said the sensational case finally got the go-ahead with the indictment order.

As many as 171 people were named as prosecution witnesses in the case, he said.

In a text message to The Daily Star, Reza Kibria, son of the slain ex-finance minister, said the much-delayed charge framing represents only the initiation of the trial process more than a decade after the crime.

“What is important is that the real mastermind behind the assassination has been identified. We hope that during the trial the names of all those involved in the killing are identified through the testimony of the witnesses and those named in the charge sheet.

“We now believe that there will eventually be an opportunity to include the key plotters of the attack in the charge sheet.

“The investigation has been incomplete due to pressure from various political interests,” he said.

“We hope the trial can proceed without hindrance or delay, and that due process is followed so that the guilty parties are correctly identified for punishment under the law of the country,” added Reza.

Of the accused, 14 are in prison. They include Babar, state minister for home affairs during the last BNP-led government, and Mufti Abdul Hannan, leader of banned Islamist militant outfit Harkatul Jihad al Islami (Huji).

Eight accused are on bail, while 10 others, including Harris, political secretary of the then prime minister Khaleda Zia, have been absconding.

The 22 accused, who were present in court yesterday, pleaded not guilty.

If convicted, the accused may get the death penalty.

As per the Speedy Trial Tribunal Act, the court has to complete the trial within 135 working days.

However, upon the expiry of the deadline, if the judge deems that the trial requires more time, he can extend the time of the court proceedings, say legal experts.

BACKGROUND

The day after the grenade attack, Abdul Mazid Khan, organising secretary of Habiganj district AL, filed two cases -- one for the killing and the other under the Explosive Substances Act -- with Habiganj Sadar Police Station.

Munshi Atiqur Rahman of the Criminal Investigation Department submitted the first charge sheet in March 2005 against 10 local BNP men.

Kibria's family outright rejected it, saying the investigation had failed to identify the mastermind. Following an appeal, the Sylhet tribunal in May 2006 ordered a further probe into the grenade attack.

A new investigation officer, Rafiqul Islam, submitted the second charge sheet to Habiganj magistrate's court in June 2011.

This time Babar, Mufti Hannan and 14 others were named. The CID found that Babar had been involved in the planning of the attack executed by Huji militants.

A week after the submission of the second charge sheet, Kibria's wife Asma Kibria filed a petition with a Habiganj court, expressing no confidence in the investigation. The court then forwarded the case documents and the petition to the Speedy Trial Tribunal in Sylhet.

Following two petitions by Asma and the tribunal prosecutor, Judge Dilip Kumar Debnath in January 2012 ordered another probe by a senior CID officer. The third charge sheet was submitted on November 13 last year, accusing nine more.

Of the 35 accused, the names of three were dropped from the charge sheet, as the investigators couldn't get details of two of them while the other passed away.