3 SC lawyers �confess� to terror financing

All the three Supreme Court (SC) lawyers, who were arrested for allegedly financing Shaheed Hamza Brigade, an Islamist organisation, gave ‘confessional’ statements before Banskhali court of Chittagong yesterday.
Banskhali senior judicial magistrate Sazzad Hossain recorded the statement of advocate Md Hasanuzzaman Liton, barrister Shakila Farzana and advocate Mahfuz Chowdhury Bapon from 10:30am to 2pm under Section 164 after members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB-7) produced the accused before the court after a four-day remand.
However, claims have been made that there was a smokescreen on whether the three lawyers had made confessional statements with regard to funding the militant outfit, as a prosecution lawyer said the arrested trio had indirectly given confessional statements.
The defence counsel, on the other hand, stated that their clients did not make any confessional statement of having funded militant activities. Moreover, the defence lawyers alleged that rules and regulations for recording deposition under Section 164 were flouted in the case of recording the deposition of the three lawyers. Members of RAB-7 had intimidated their clients to give confessional deposition, they added.
The prosecution lawyer, assistant public prosecutor (APP) advocate Bikash Ranjan Dhor, told The Independent: “The three lawyers gave confessional statements under Section 164 before the court indirectly, saying they have funded the militant outfit. The court ordered them to be sent to jail after recording the deposition.”

Advocate Kafil Uddin, a defence lawyer, told The Independent, “According to the law, it is necessary to bring the accused in the chamber of magistrate before three hours for a confessional statement under Section 164. However, this was not followed by the law enforcement personnel. RAB-7 members had kept the three lawyers waiting in their vehicles. One after another, they were produced before the court directly from the vehicles for deposition.”
They have received the money for conducting a case of Hefazat-e-Islam, returned the money to Moniruzzaman Masud alias Don after they failed to bail them out. They are not involved with any kind of terror financing. In the deposition said the three lawyers, claimed the defence lawyers.
“Members of the elite RAB also intimidated them into making confessional statements before the court. As part of such intimidation, the law enforcement personnel applied before the court for permission to produce them in a case of Hathazari upazila and to bring them on remand again in the morning. Pending the application, the court recorded the deposition, which flouts the law,” alleged Kafil Uddin.
He claimed that their clients were professional lawyers in the SC and had taken the money from a client for professional reasons.
“They returned the money to their client. They did not give the money for carrying out any militant activities,” said Abdur Sattar, another defence lawyer.
The court rejected the bail prayer of the defence lawyers and ordered to send the trio to jail. mEarlier, on the night of August 18, the RAB arrested the trio from a house in Dhanmondi area of the capital.
Following the arrests of the three lawyers, the elite force produced them before the court of Banskhali senior judicial magistrate Sazzad Hossain and sought a seven-day remand for each. The court, however, granted a four-day remand for each lawyer.
On August 19, RAB-7 commander Lt. Col. Miftah Uddin Ahmed said in a press briefing: “After verifying different bank accounts in accordance with the directions of the court, and with the help of Bangladesh Bank, it was found that the arrested lawyers had given Tk. 1.08 crore to the militant outfit for procuring weapons.”
“Barrister Shakila Farzana provided Tk. 52 lakh in two phases (Tk. 25 lakh and Tk. 27 lakh), while advocate Md Hasanuzzaman Liton gave Tk. 31 lakh and advocate Mahfuz Chowdhury Bapon Tk. 25 lakh to the militant outfit. We’ve information that a UAE national, Allama Libadi, is another financer of the militant group,” he added.
The RAB-7 recently came to know about Shaheed Hamza Brigade, which is operating in Chittagong. The elite force has also busted its hideouts in Hathazari, Banshkhali and Halishahar areas of Chittagong, and arrested 29 members of the outfit. According to the RAB, Shaheed Hamza Brigade became active from November 2013. The terrorist outfit’s objective is to carry out subversive activities at home and abroad.
Earlier, on April 13, the elite force had arrested four militants of this group from Chittagong. As many as five AK-22 rifles, five pistols, a gun and a huge cache of arms were recovered at that time from the arrestees’ possession.

 

3 SC lawyers �confess� to terror financing

All the three Supreme Court (SC) lawyers, who were arrested for allegedly financing Shaheed Hamza Brigade, an Islamist organisation, gave confessional statements before Banskhali court of Chittagong yesterday. Banskhali senior judicial magistrate Sazzad Hossain recorded the statement of advocate Md Hasanuzzaman Liton, barrister Shakila Farzana and advocate Mahfuz Chowdhury Bapon from 10:30am to 2pm under Section 164 after members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB-7) produced the accused before the court after a four-day remand. However, claims have been made that there was a smokescreen on whether the three lawyers had made confessional statements with regard to funding the militant outfit, as a prosecution lawyer said the arrested trio had indirectly given confessional statements. The defence counsel, on the other hand, stated that their clients did not make any confessional statement of having funded militant activities. Moreover, the defence lawyers alleged that rules and regulations for recording deposition under Section 164 were flouted in the case of recording the deposition of the three lawyers. Members of RAB-7 had intimidated their clients to give confessional deposition, they added. The prosecution lawyer, assistant public prosecutor (APP) advocate Bikash Ranjan Dhor, told The Independent: The three lawyers gave confessional statements under Section 164 before the court indirectly, saying they have funded the militant outfit. The court ordered them to be sent to jail after recording the deposition. Advocate Kafil Uddin, a defence lawyer, told The Independent, According to the law, it is necessary to bring the accused in the chamber of magistrate before three hours for a confessional statement under Section 164. However, this was not followed by the law enforcement personnel. RAB-7 members had kept the three lawyers waiting in their vehicles. One after another, they were produced before the court directly from the vehicles for deposition. They have received the money for conducting a case of Hefazat-e-Islam, returned the money to Moniruzzaman Masud alias Don after they failed to bail them out. They are not involved with any kind of terror financing. In the deposition said the three lawyers, claimed the defence lawyers. Members of the elite RAB also intimidated them into making confessional statements before the court. As part of such intimidation, the law enforcement personnel applied before the court for permission to produce them in a case of Hathazari upazila and to bring them on remand again in the morning. Pending the application, the court recorded the deposition, which flouts the law, alleged Kafil Uddin. He claimed that their clients were professional lawyers in the SC and had taken the money from a client for professional reasons. They returned the money to their client. They did not give the money for carrying out any militant activities, said Abdur Sattar, another defence lawyer. The court rejected the bail prayer of the defence lawyers and ordered to send the trio to jail. mEarlier, on the night of August 18, the RAB arrested the trio from a house in Dhanmondi area of the capital. Following the arrests of the three lawyers, the elite force produced them before the court of Banskhali senior judicial magistrate Sazzad Hossain and sought a seven-day remand for each. The court, however, granted a four-day remand for each lawyer. On August 19, RAB-7 commander Lt. Col. Miftah Uddin Ahmed said in a press briefing: After verifying different bank accounts in accordance with the directions of the court, and with the help of Bangladesh Bank, it was found that the arrested lawyers had given Tk. 1.08 crore to the militant outfit for procuring weapons. Barrister Shakila Farzana provided Tk. 52 lakh in two phases (Tk. 25 lakh and Tk. 27 lakh), while advocate Md Hasanuzzaman Liton gave Tk. 31 lakh and advocate Mahfuz Chowdhury Bapon Tk. 25 lakh to the militant outfit. Weve information that a UAE national, Allama Libadi, is another financer of the militant group, he added. The RAB-7 recently came to know about Shaheed Hamza Brigade, which is operating in Chittagong. The elite force has also busted its hideouts in Hathazari, Banshkhali and Halishahar areas of Chittagong, and arrested 29 members of the outfit. According to the RAB, Shaheed Hamza Brigade became active from November 2013. The terrorist outfits objective is to carry out subversive activities at home and abroad. Earlier, on April 13, the elite force had arrested four militants of this group from Chittagong. As many as five AK-22 rifles, five pistols, a gun and a huge cache of arms were recovered at that time from the arrestees possession.