Tribunal irked by absence of lawyers

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 has set tomorrow for the defence of war crimes accused Ghulam Azam to complete closing arguments as their senior counsels were again absent from the proceedings.
Abdur Razzaq, chief of the defence of the war crimes accused belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami, was supposed to place arguments on law points yesterday but did not appear before the tribunal showing “personal difficulty”.
The tribunal expressed unhappiness over a defence petition that followed for an adjournment.
“He [Razzaq] could've said it yesterday [Monday]. But he didn't say it yesterday before adjournment,” said chairman of the three-member tribunal Justice ATM Fazle Kabir.
It was for the sixth time the defence remained absent showing “personal difficulties” since March 4 after the prosecution completed their arguments.
The tribunal had earlier adjourned the proceedings on three occasions for which the defence had to give total Tk 11,000, as the tribunal did not find the grounds for the adjournment petitions satisfactory.
But when defence counsel Raihan Uddin yesterday came up with another adjournment petition on the same ground, the tribunal set the deadline to complete their arguments.
Raihan told the tribunal that senior counsel Razzaq could not come due to “personal difficulty” and sought the adjournment.
The tribunal asked the whereabouts of the senior defence counsel.
“According to my knowledge, he [Razzaq] is now at home,” replied Raihan.
Opposing the petition, prosecutor Sultan Mahmud Simon quoting section 13 of the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973 said there was no provision of adjournment in the law for the said reason.
Section 13 reads, “No trial before a Tribunal shall be adjourned for any purpose unless the Tribunal is of the opinion that the adjournment is in the interest of justice.”
The prosecutor told the tribunal the defence had not mentioned anything about “interest of justice” rather highlighted “personal difficulties”.
He also pointed out that the defence had yet to pay Tk 5,000 that the tribunal asked to pay while allowing their last petition for an adjournment on March 27.
When the tribunal enquired about the matter, Raihan said they could not pay the amount on Monday due to a technical problem in the bank.
Prosecutor Tureen Afroz said the value of time of judges and operational expenditures of the tribunal should be considered in imposing such costs on adjournments.
She argued that the defence were taking the costs lightly. “The cost was imposed as warning. But they are not taking it seriously,” she observed.
Tribunal Chairman Justice ATM Fazle Kabir said, “We are not inclined to impose cost upon the defence. The prayer for an adjournment is allowed for today with the direction to complete the argument within April 4. The argument shall stand stop [then].”
The tribunal then fixed today for hearing the closing argument of the defence.
Raihan later told The Daily Star that they had paid Tk 5,000 for the previous adjournment.
TRIBUNAL-2
The International Crimes Tribunal-2 yesterday completed recording testimony of Abdur Razzaque Khan, 17th and last prosecution witness in the case against Jamaat Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed.
During his one-and-a-half-hour testimony, Razzaque, also the investigation officer of the case, mainly exhibited documentary evidence he had collected during investigation.
The three-member tribunal led by Justice Obaidul Hassan adjourned the case proceeding until April 7 when Razzaque is set to face cross-examination by the defence.
On March 28, Razzaque started giving his testimony but could not complete it as the conducting prosecutor fell ill during the proceeding.
The investigator said he had learned that Mojaheed was the president of Islami Chhatra Sangha (ICS), the then student wing of Jamaat, of Faridpur district in between 1968-1970.
He was the president of ICS Dhaka city unit in between January-July in 1971 and became the general secretary of East Pakistan ICS in July 1971 and its president in October that year.
According to the prosecution documents, the ICS turned into Al-Badr force during the Liberation War and Mojaheed was a commander of it. The force collaborated with Pakistani army in killing and committing genocide and other crimes.
Razzaque said he had submitted a probe report after finding “preliminary proof” of Mojaheed's involvement in crimes against humanity committed across the country including his home district Faridpur.
Meanwhile, the tribunal adjourned the case proceeding of another Jamaat leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman until today, as chief defence counsel Abdur Razzaq did not appear before the court.
The tribunal said it would close the defence arguments if they failed to start arguments today even hartal was enforced. The tribunal, however, would allow the defence to submit written arguments.
Both the Jamaat leaders are facing seven charges of crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War in 1971.