Tribunal accepts charges against 3

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 yesterday took into cognizance eight charges against three war crimes suspects for their alleged involvement in crimes against humanity and genocide in Bagerhat during the country's Liberation War in 1971.

The accused are Sheikh Sirajul Haque alias Siraj Master, 72, Khan Akram Hossain, 61, and Abdul Latif Talukdar, 68.

The three-member tribunal also fixed September 30 for hearing arguments from both prosecution and defence on charge framing.

The trio joined the Razakar Bahini - an auxiliary force of the Pakistani occupation army - in 1971 and committed killing, mass killing, rape, looting, arson and forced conversion, according to the prosecution.

Sirajul, who according to the prosecution was the most notorious among the three, did not appoint any lawyer.

The tribunal yesterday appointed a state defence lawyer Mohammad Abul Hasan for Sirajul.

Abdul Latif filed a bail petition which the tribunal yesterday rejected.

Prosecutor Syed Sayedul Haque Suman read out the charges before the three-member tribunal led by Justice M Enayetur Rahim.

Among the eight charges, four have been brought against Sirajul alone for killing about 666 people, two against all of them for the killing of 47 people and two against Khan Akram and Abdul Latif for converting 200 Hindus and killing a person.

According to the prosecution, Sirajul on May 13, 1971 was involved in the killing of 40 to 50 people of Hindu Community at Ranjitpur in the district. Their houses were also plundered.

On May 21, 1971, an armed group killed around 600 to 700 Hindus when several thousand Hindu men gathered at Kalimandir in Dakra of Rampal of the district in order to go to refugee camps in India.

Nineteen civilians of Besorgati and Kandapara under Bagerhat Sadar Police Station were detained, tortured and killed on June 18, 1971. Sirajul is found to have been involved in the killings, said Sayedul Haque.

HASAN'S CASE

The tribunal yesterday appointed state defence lawyer Abdus Sukur Khan in another war crimes case for fugitive Syed Md Hasan Ali.

On August 24, the tribunal accepted six charges on crimes against humanity in 1971 against Hasan.

The six charges include setting fire and looting seven houses of one Hasan Ahmed of Sachail village on April 27; involvement in killing of one Tofazzal, abduction of two other people and setting fire to two houses of Konabhawal village on August 23 and involvement in killing 12 persons and torching 10 houses in Shimulhati village on September 9.

Other charges include involvement in killing eight people and abduction of 10 others in Borgaon village on September 27; involvement in abducting and later killing Kamini Kumar Ghosh and Jibon Chakravarty and looting Ghosh's house in Araiura village on October 8 and involvement in killing Rashid Ali Bepari and setting fire to 100 houses in Sachail village on December 11.

According to the formal charges, Hassan, 65, alleged commander of Tarail unit of Razakar Bahini in Kishoreganj, set up a camp of the auxiliary force of the Pakistani occupation army at Tarail Police Station on April 23, 1971.

JABBAR'S CASE

Meanwhile, the third prosecution witness in the war crimes case against fugitive Abdul Jabbar, former Jatiya Party lawmaker, gave almost a similar testimony as the other witnesses.

Abdul Maker, 75, said on May 16, 1971, Jabbar attended a rally on the playground of Tushkhali High School. At the rally Jabbar issued a command to bring in two freedom fighters Abdur Razzak and Motleb Sharif dead or alive.

Following his order, armed Razakars killed the two freedom fighters.

Earlier witnesses had said Jabbar forcefully converted more than 150 people from the Hindu community to Islam and looted about 360 houses in Phuljhuri village.

Jabbar is facing five charges for his alleged involvement in crimes against humanity during the liberation war in 1971.