ICT order on 2 Bagerhat �razakars� August 11
International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 yesterday fixed August 11 for delivering its verdict on two razakars of Bagerhat. The two alleged razakars are Sheikh Sirajul Haque alias Siraj Master and Khan Akram Hossain. However, the ICT-1 stopped the trial proceedings of another accused Abdul Latif Talukder as he has recently died of old age complications. Talukder, 75, died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on July 27. After concluding arguments from both sides on June 23, a three-member ICT-1 bench led by its Chairman Justice M Enayetur Rahim kept the verdict awaiting. The three alleged razakars were indicted on seven charges, including torture, abduction, murders, and mass killings of unarmed civilians during the Liberation War in 1971. Police arrested Latif from his home on June 11, 2014, after the ICT issued warrants of arrest against the three over crimes committed against humanity in 1971. On November 5, 2014, ICT-1 indicted the three on seven charges of which four were brought against Sirajul alone, two against all of them for killing 47 people and one against Akram and Latif for killing a person. The accused, however, pleaded not guilty at the tribunal. The defence produced five witnesses and prosecutor Syedul Haque started argument on June 15 but the court stopped the proceedings after Talukder fell ill.
