11 yrs not enough to end trial!

Aug 21 grenade attack

Even after 11 years, the trial in the deadly August 21 grenade attack at an Awami League rally held at the Bangabandhu Avenue in 2004 is still going on, leaving relatives of the victims and survivors extremely frustrated. Every year on the anniversary of the deadly grenade attack, the concerned authorities become active and vow to complete the trials at the earliest.
However, of the total 52 accused, the law enforcing agencies are yet to trace the whereabouts of 18 absconding accused.
Talking to The Independent yesterday, public prosecutor, Mosharraf Hossain Kazol, who is dealing with the case, claimed that the backlog of several other sensational cases, including the 10-truck arms smuggling  case in Chittagong, the bomb blast case during Pahela Baishakh celebrations in Ramna Batamul in 2001 that killed 10 people, the recovery of 76 kg of explosives at a PM’s meeting  in Kotalipara Upazila of Gopalganj district and the grenade attack case on British High Commissioner, Anwar Choudhury, in Sylhet on May 21  2004 have contributed to the delay in disposal of the August 21 grenade attack case.
Many of the accused in the August 21 grenade attack case were also charge sheeted in other sensational cases. As per the law, all accused, except those absconding, must be present in the court during the testimony of witnesses, explained Kazol.
Talking about the progress in the past one year, Kazol said that till August 21, 2014, only 92 witnesses had testified, but after that a total 176 witnesses out of the 492 witnesses have testified. Blaming the other cases and time petitions filed by defence counsels, the senior lawyer said, “We have not submitted a single time petition. I hope that the trial would finish by the end of this year as depositions of a maximum of 40 more witnesses will be taken.”
Nineteen charge sheeted accused out of 52, including Tarique Rahman, Senior Vice-Chairman of the BNP and elder son of former Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, are still absconding. A total of 26 accused are in jail and eight others, including three former Inspector Generals of police (IGPs) are out on bail, he added. Talking about other hindrances in the progress of the trial, he said, “The existing court where the trail proceeding is too small to deal with such a case. As a result, the prosecution and defence lawyers along with the accused have to sit together.”
Kazol added that the prosecution has submitted a proposal for fixing of three days of the week,Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, for hearing the grenade attack case to ensure quick disposal. “We have also communicated to the concerned authorities to shift the court to a temporary court at Bakshibazar.”

Two separate cases were lodged in the August 21 attack – one for murder and the other under the Explosive Act. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted two separate supplementary charge sheets against 30 people on July 3, 2012 after fresh investigation was ordered.
A total of 52 people have been accused in the case when the CID on July 11, 2008 indicted 22 people, including ex-deputy minister of BNP, Abdus Salam Pintu and chief of the banned outfit Harkatul Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), Mufti Abdul Hannan.
During the BNP-Jamaat rule till October 2006, the investigators tried to divert the probe in a wrong direction in order to protect the real culprits. The CID failed to submit charge sheets, even though leaders in the then government claimed several times that the probe was about to be completed and everything would be revealed.
Media reports on the cooked-up story of Joj Mia brought to public attention the attempt by certain CID officials of that time to derail the investigation. During the tenure of the last caretaker government, the first charge sheet was filed against 22 people, including Pintu and 21 Huji leaders and workers.
The overt attempt by the then BNP-led regime to derail the investigations prompted the subsequent interim government to order fresh probe into the case.
Of the accused, former minister and Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, former State Minister for Home, Lutfozzaman Babar, Pintu and Huji chief, Mufti Abdul Hannan, are in jail.
Former Inspector Generals of police (IGPs) Ashraful Huda, Shahudul Haque and Khoda Baksh Chowdhury, ex-SP, Ruhul Amin of CID, former ASPs of CID, Atiqur Rahman and Abdur Rashid are out on bail.
According to intelligence sources, among the fugitive accused, Tarique Rahman is now staying in London and Harris Chowdhury in Assam in India. Among others, Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad is living in Bangkok, owner of Hanif Enterprise, Mohammad Hanif, is in Kolkata, Maj. Gen. (retd.) ATM Amin is in the USA, Lt. Col. (retd.) Saiful Islam Joarder in Canada, Babu alias Ratul Babu in India and Anisul Morsalin and his brother, Mohibul Muttakin, are lodged in an Indian jail.
Militant leaders, Shafikur Rahman, Mufti Abdul Hai, Maulana Abu Bakar, Iqbal, Khalilur Rahman, Jahangir Alam alias Badar, Maulana Liton alias Zobair alias Delwar and Maulana Tajul Islam, the then Deputy Commissioner (east) and Deputy Commissioner (south) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), Md Obaidur Rahman and Khan Syed Hasan, are also staying abroad, sources said, adding that most of them are now in Pakistan. But the Home Minister recently claimed that Maulana Tajul Islam is in South Africa.
Of the fugitive accused, Maulana Tajuddin and Babu are brothers of Pintu, who has been charge sheeted in the grenade attack case.
The grenade attack on an AL rally killed 24 leaders and workers of the party, including Ivy Rahman, wife of the late president Zillur Rahman and injured 300 others, including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was then the leader of the opposition.
The attack was allegedly carried out in collaboration with the banned Islamist outfit, Harkatul Jihad-al-Islami, influential leaders of the BNP and Jamaat and some officials in the home ministry, police, Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), National Security Intelligence (NSI) and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

11 yrs not enough to end trial!

Aug 21 grenade attack

Even after 11 years, the trial in the deadly August 21 grenade attack at an Awami League rally held at the Bangabandhu Avenue in 2004 is still going on, leaving relatives of the victims and survivors extremely frustrated. Every year on the anniversary of the deadly grenade attack, the concerned authorities become active and vow to complete the trials at the earliest. However, of the total 52 accused, the law enforcing agencies are yet to trace the whereabouts of 18 absconding accused. Talking to The Independent yesterday, public prosecutor, Mosharraf Hossain Kazol, who is dealing with the case, claimed that the backlog of several other sensational cases, including the 10-truck arms smuggling case in Chittagong, the bomb blast case during Pahela Baishakh celebrations in Ramna Batamul in 2001 that killed 10 people, the recovery of 76 kg of explosives at a PMs meeting in Kotalipara Upazila of Gopalganj district and the grenade attack case on British High Commissioner, Anwar Choudhury, in Sylhet on May 21 2004 have contributed to the delay in disposal of the August 21 grenade attack case. Many of the accused in the August 21 grenade attack case were also charge sheeted in other sensational cases. As per the law, all accused, except those absconding, must be present in the court during the testimony of witnesses, explained Kazol. Talking about the progress in the past one year, Kazol said that till August 21, 2014, only 92 witnesses had testified, but after that a total 176 witnesses out of the 492 witnesses have testified. Blaming the other cases and time petitions filed by defence counsels, the senior lawyer said, We have not submitted a single time petition. I hope that the trial would finish by the end of this year as depositions of a maximum of 40 more witnesses will be taken. Nineteen charge sheeted accused out of 52, including Tarique Rahman, Senior Vice-Chairman of the BNP and elder son of former Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, are still absconding. A total of 26 accused are in jail and eight others, including three former Inspector Generals of police (IGPs) are out on bail, he added. Talking about other hindrances in the progress of the trial, he said, The existing court where the trail proceeding is too small to deal with such a case. As a result, the prosecution and defence lawyers along with the accused have to sit together. Kazol added that the prosecution has submitted a proposal for fixing of three days of the week,Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, for hearing the grenade attack case to ensure quick disposal. We have also communicated to the concerned authorities to shift the court to a temporary court at Bakshibazar. Two separate cases were lodged in the August 21 attack one for murder and the other under the Explosive Act. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted two separate supplementary charge sheets against 30 people on July 3, 2012 after fresh investigation was ordered. A total of 52 people have been accused in the case when the CID on July 11, 2008 indicted 22 people, including ex-deputy minister of BNP, Abdus Salam Pintu and chief of the banned outfit Harkatul Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), Mufti Abdul Hannan. During the BNP-Jamaat rule till October 2006, the investigators tried to divert the probe in a wrong direction in order to protect the real culprits. The CID failed to submit charge sheets, even though leaders in the then government claimed several times that the probe was about to be completed and everything would be revealed. Media reports on the cooked-up story of Joj Mia brought to public attention the attempt by certain CID officials of that time to derail the investigation. During the tenure of the last caretaker government, the first charge sheet was filed against 22 people, including Pintu and 21 Huji leaders and workers. The overt attempt by the then BNP-led regime to derail the investigations prompted the subsequent interim government to order fresh probe into the case. Of the accused, former minister and Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, former State Minister for Home, Lutfozzaman Babar, Pintu and Huji chief, Mufti Abdul Hannan, are in jail. Former Inspector Generals of police (IGPs) Ashraful Huda, Shahudul Haque and Khoda Baksh Chowdhury, ex-SP, Ruhul Amin of CID, former ASPs of CID, Atiqur Rahman and Abdur Rashid are out on bail. According to intelligence sources, among the fugitive accused, Tarique Rahman is now staying in London and Harris Chowdhury in Assam in India. Among others, Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad is living in Bangkok, owner of Hanif Enterprise, Mohammad Hanif, is in Kolkata, Maj. Gen. (retd.) ATM Amin is in the USA, Lt. Col. (retd.) Saiful Islam Joarder in Canada, Babu alias Ratul Babu in India and Anisul Morsalin and his brother, Mohibul Muttakin, are lodged in an Indian jail. Militant leaders, Shafikur Rahman, Mufti Abdul Hai, Maulana Abu Bakar, Iqbal, Khalilur Rahman, Jahangir Alam alias Badar, Maulana Liton alias Zobair alias Delwar and Maulana Tajul Islam, the then Deputy Commissioner (east) and Deputy Commissioner (south) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), Md Obaidur Rahman and Khan Syed Hasan, are also staying abroad, sources said, adding that most of them are now in Pakistan. But the Home Minister recently claimed that Maulana Tajul Islam is in South Africa. Of the fugitive accused, Maulana Tajuddin and Babu are brothers of Pintu, who has been charge sheeted in the grenade attack case. The grenade attack on an AL rally killed 24 leaders and workers of the party, including Ivy Rahman, wife of the late president Zillur Rahman and injured 300 others, including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was then the leader of the opposition. The attack was allegedly carried out in collaboration with the banned Islamist outfit, Harkatul Jihad-al-Islami, influential leaders of the BNP and Jamaat and some officials in the home ministry, police, Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), National Security Intelligence (NSI) and the Prime Ministers Office (PMO).