Bangladesh tribunal denies bail to ‘war crimes’ accused
April 21st, 2011 - 4:20 pm ICT by IANSDhaka, April 21 (IANS) A judicial panel in Bangladesh Thursday rejected bail petitions of four Islamist leaders and allowed their interrogation by the police on charges of committing “war crimes” during the 1971 War of Liberation.
The International War Crimes Tribunal directed that the four accused — Jamaat-e-Islami amir (chief) Motiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general Ali Ahsan Mojahid and assistant secretaries general Muhammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla of the country’s largest Islamist party - could be interrogated in a “safe house”.
However, their lawyers would have to be informed 48 hours before the interrogation and allowed to advise their clients, the Daily Star reported on its website.
The four are among those who are accused of targeting unarmed civilians sympathetic to the freedom movement against the then Pakistan authorities.
Bangladesh, formerly east Pakistan, was created after the Liberation War in December 1971.
The court Wednesday rejected the bail petition filed by fifth Jamaat leader, Delwar Hossain Sayedee, in connection with war crimes.
Besides the five Jamaat leaders, two leaders of main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) - former minister Abdul Alim and Salahuddin Qader Choudhury, a lawmaker and senior aide of BNP chief Khaleda Zia - have also been arrested on charges of “war crimes”.
Charges against them include leading Islamist militia and helping the then Pakistani authorities to attack thousands of people, including minority Hindus. Bangladesh says three million people perished during the nine-month freedom struggle.
The tribunal was constituted last year and is going through the preparatory work before a formal trial can begin.
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Tags: ahsan, assistant secretaries, bangladesh nationalist party, east pakistan, freedom movement, freedom struggle, international war crimes, international war crimes tribunal, islamist party, judicial panel, khaleda zia, liberation war, nizami, pakistani authorities, preparatory work, qader, quader, unarmed civilians, war crimes charges, war crimes tribunal