Verdict on 3 Razakars any day
War crimes trial
The International Crimes Tribunal -1 (ICT-1) has kept the verdict waiting against three detained Bagerhat Razakar, for their crimes against humanity during the 1971 War of Liberation.
The accused war criminals are Sheikh Sirajul Islam, Abdul Latif Talukder and Khan Akram Hossain.
After the hearing from both the prosecution and the defence lawyers concluded, the three-member ICT-1, led by its chairman, Justice M Enayetur Rahim, kept the case as CAV (curia advisary vult, a Latin legal term meaning verdict could be delivered anytime).
Prosecution lawyers Syed Saidul Haque and Mushfique Kabir argued for the state, while Abul Ahsan and M Sarwar Hossain argued for the defendants.
The trio is facing seven charges, including killing, mass killing, torture and arson attack, during the Liberation War. According to the charges, on May 13, 1971, Sirajul was involved in the killing of 40 to 50 Hindus 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 the Kali Mandir in Dakra of Rampal of the district to go to refugee camps in India. Sirajul was involved in the killings.
Nineteen civilians of Besorgati and Kandapara, in the Bagerhat Sadar Police Station area, were detained, tortured and killed on June 18, 1971. Sirajul is found to have been involved in the killings, the probe report says.
The trio attacked civilians at Shakharikathi Haat, in the Kochua Police Station area, and killed 42 people on November 5, 1971, the indictment order said.
The three war crimes accused killed five persons of different villages of Kachua on November 22, 1971.
Khan Akram and Abdul Latif detained freedom fighter Fazlur Rahman of Teligati village and killed him on December 13, 1971. Sixty-eight persons were made witnesses in the case. On 5 November, 2014, the tribunal framed charges against the three accused for their involvement in crimes against humanity during the Liberation War.
A total of 32 prosecution witnesses, including the investigation officer, testified against the trio, whereas five defence witnesses submitted their depositions in support of the Razakar trio.
Police arrested accused Akram, Latif and Sirajul on June 3, 11 and July 21, respectively.
The two tribunals have so far delivered 19 verdicts against 21 accused in war crimes cases. The Tribunal-1 delivered nine verdicts and the Tribunal-2, 10.
