Condemned war criminal SQ Chy petitions for Pakistani witnesses

Condemned war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury has filed a petition with the Supreme Court, urging it to record statements of eight persons, including five Pakistanis, during the hearing of his review petition.

The BNP leader's counsel Md Huzzatul Islam submitted the petition to the office concerned of the apex court yesterday morning.

Huzzatul told The Daily Star that the petition would be placed before the SC chamber judge today for fixing a date for hearing.

Asked, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said the filing of such petition at this stage of legal proceedings was unprecedented.

Mahbubey said he would move two petitions before the SC chamber judge today for setting a date for early hearing of the review petitions of Salauddin and another condemned war criminal Jamaat leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed.

The five Pakistanis are: Muhammad Mian Soomro, former Pakistani prime minister; Ishak Khan Khakwani, ex-rail minister; Amber Haroon Saigol, chairman of the Dawn Group; Munib Arjamand Khan, a social worker; and Riaz Ahmed Noon, grandson of social worker Viqarunnisa Noon.

The three others are Osman Siddik, a former diplomat, Justice Shamim Hasnain, a High Court judge in Bangladesh, and his mother Zinnat Ara Begum.

Salauddin's principal counsel Khandker Mahbub Hossain told this correspondent that they had earlier filed a petition with International Crimes Tribunal-1 to record the statements of these eight people, but the tribunal didn't accept their prayer.

During Salauddin's trial at the ICT-1, the defence submitted a list of 1,153 witnesses to defend the former BNP lawmaker.

Considering all aspects, the tribunal selected five of them as witnesses.

It said the number of witnesses was reasonable, as it was the responsibility of the prosecution to prove the charges, not of the defence.

The defence then submitted a list of five witnesses, including industrialist Salman F Rahman, Justice Shamim Hasnain, Salauddin's maternal cousin Qayum Reza Chowdhury and his college friend Nizam Ahmed.

But the defence failed to produce Salman and Justice Shamim before the court.

Following a prayer from the defence, the tribunal, exercising its inherent power, later allowed the defence to produce an unlisted witness -- former diplomat Abdul Momen Chowdhury.

Salauddin's counsels have repeatedly claimed their client was not in Bangladesh from March 29, 1971 to April 1974, as he went to Pakistan to study at Punjab University.

However, the ICT-1 in its judgment noted that Salauddin was indeed in Chittagong during the Liberation War and was guilty of committing crimes against humanity and genocide there.

The judgment said, “Since the accused proudly claims that he is not a Bangalee, it can be presumed that the accused as a non-Bangalee might have gone to West Pakistan as his first home during the War of Liberation in 1971.

“But the fact remains that the defence did not produce any travel or residential documents to show the date of the so-called visit to West Pakistan and staying therein during the War of Liberation of Bangladesh,” read the verdict.

The court said the investigation officer of the case, Nurul Islam, provided it with a report of Dainik Pakistan of September 29, 1971 with the headline “Son of Fazlul Quader wounded in bomb attack: driver shot dead.”

On October 14, Salauddin filed a petition with the SC to review his sentences after it upheld the ICT-1 verdict that the BNP leader would have to walk the gallows for committing crimes against humanity in 1971.

Claiming innocence, 66-year-old Salauddin, now in Kashimpur Jail-1, sought acquittal on all charges brought against him.

On July 29 this year, the SC bench led by Chief Justice SK Sinha upheld Salauddin's death penalty, handed down by the ICT-1 on October 1, 2013, for the brutal killing of Natun Chandra Sinha, Awami League leader Mozaffar Ahmed and his son; and two acts of genocide in Sultanpur Banikpara and Unasattarpara villages in Raozan where 74 villagers were massacred.

It also upheld his 20 years' jail sentence on two charges: acts of genocide at Maddhya Gohira Hindupara and at Jagotmallopara in Raozan. At least 37 people were killed in the two villages.

Earlier in June, the SC also upheld the capital punishment of Jamaat leader Mojaheed after hearing his appeal against the ICT-2 verdict.

On September 30, the apex court published its full verdicts. The next day, the tribunal issued execution warrants for the two war crimes convicts.