Dhaka: The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 today sent 15 officials of the Bangladesh Army to jail, showing them arrested in two cases lodged over enforced disappearances and torture at the Taskforce for Interrogation (TFI) Cell and the Joint Interrogation Cell (JIC) during the Awami League regime, and in one case filed over the July Mass Uprising killing.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the 15 accused include Md Jahangir Alam, Tofayel Mostafa Sarwar, Md Qamrul Hasan, Md Mahabub Alam, KM Azad, Abdullah Al Momen, Md Moshiur Rahman Jewel, Saiful Islam Suman, Md Sarwar Bin Qashem, Mohammad Redwanul Islam, Rafat Bin Alam, Sheikh Md Sarwar Hossain, Md Mahbubur Rahman Siddiqui, and Ahmed Tanvir Mazhar Siddiqui. The first tribunal, led by its Chairman Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, passed the order this morning.
The court also ordered the publication of notices in one English and one Bengali newspaper, asking the fugitive accused in the three cases to appear before it to face trial. It adjourned till November 20 the hearing of the two cases filed over enforced disappearances and torture at the TFI and JIC and set November 5 for the next hearing in the case filed over a killing in the city’s Rampura area during the July Mass Uprising.
ICT Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam appeared for the prosecution, while Barrister Md Sarwar Hossain argued for the defence. The plainclothed accused were brought to the tribunal by a specialised prison van around 7:15 am amid heightened security in and around the court premises. A large number of personnel from police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and Armed Police Battalion (APBN) were deployed in and around the tribunal area.
The accused were escorted to the tribunal by police personnel and taken back from the tribunal at around 10 am. Meanwhile, Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam mentioned that the Bangladesh Army extended full cooperation in ‘detaining and producing’ the army officials accused in the cases over enforced disappearances and crimes against humanity during the July-August Mass Uprising.
Defence counsel Barrister M Sarwar Hossain informed newsmen that the accused will be taken to a sub-jail inside the cantonment. Earlier, on October 8, the ICT-1 took cognisance of charges against 30 accused, including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, in two cases filed over enforced disappearances and torture. The prosecution brought five charges in one case against 13 people, including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her former security and defence adviser Tarique Ahmed Siddique, over crimes committed at the JIC.
Another five charges were brought against 17 people, including Sheikh Hasina and Tarique Ahmed Siddique, over crimes committed at the TFI. The other accused in those cases include former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, former inspector general of police Benazir Ahmed, and other notable figures.