Flaws of prosecution come to fore again:Daily Sun

  Although International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) had sentenced Jamaat-e-Islami Nayebe Amir Delwar Hossain Sayedee to death, the Appellate Division of Supreme Court (SC) has commuted the death sentence and awarded him imprisonment unto death. The tribunal had found Sayedee guilty on eight counts, but appellate division has acquitted him of three of these charges. Moreover, the death sentence awarded
to Sayedee for Ibrahim Kutti murder did not stand in the appellate division. Under these circumstance, the flaws of investigation and conducting of the cases by prosecution of the crimes against humanity during liberation war have come to fore again. It is the responsibility of the prosecution and investigation agency of the tribunal to prove properly in the court the allegations of crimes against humanity committed 43 years ago. The victims and those concerned with the trial all along raised questions about the ability of these two agencies to prove these allegations. Law Minister Advocate Anisul Haque said change will be made in the prosecution. Attorney General Mahbubey Alam also spoke of the weakness of the prosecution in conducting and investigation of cases. In these circumstances the demand for recasting the prosecution has been strengthened. Experts said the amount of punishment the victims expect are not being awarded due to the incapacity of the investigation agency and prosecution. Even trial also is being delayed. As a result the people of the country are being deprived of speedy justice. Even, during the placing of concluding arguments by the prosecution before the tribunal on Thursday chairman of ICT -1 Justice M Enayetur Rahim mentioned about the weakness of the prosecution and investigation agencies. At one stage, pointing at the prosecution Justice M Enayetur Rahim said in criminal cases the responsibility of proving the accused as guilty is not of the judges. It is the duty of the prosecution and investigators. He said this while speaking about the discussion and criticism over the punishment awarded to Jamaat leader Sayedee. Attorney General Mahbubey Alam directly held the negligence of the prosecution responsible for commuting Sayedee’s punishment. He raised question as to the qualification and efficiency of the prosecution lawyers. He made the above view at a press briefing after pronouncement of the verdict on Wednesday. Echoing the above view, Law Minister Advocate Anisul Haque said the prosecution should be recast as its condition is not satisfactory. He said a change in the prosecution is being delayed taking into consideration the under-trial and pending cases. But the process will be expedited. He, however, expressed his reluctance to make any comment on Sayedee verdict before seeing its full text. Sector Commanders’ Forum acting secretary general Harun Habib told Kaler Kantho “Comment on Sayedee can be made after publication of full text.” But he referred to the incidents of hurling abuses at some prosecution lawyers by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) judges for the latter’s poor performance. It manifested the weakness of the prosecution team. Internal feuds in the prosecution lawyers is an open secret. Against this backdrop, the defence counsels are trying to take advantage. Weak investigation report has aggravated the problem. As the investigation agency submitted weak report, the prosecution lawyers could not prove the charges against the accused in the befitting manner. He further said if the prosecution team is not strengthened, the accused will not get adequate punishment. The affected families of the martyred liberation heroes will be deprived of justice. Acting president of Ghatok Dalal Nirmul Committee Shahriar Kabir said weaknesses and inefficiencies are visible in different activities of prosecution. He said the inefficiencies are always noticeable. The Ghatok Dalal Nirmul Committee has been raising voice to appoint skilled and talented lawyers in the prosecution for the last four years. The organisation is showing the mistakes of the prosecution and investigating agency as Ghatok Dalal Nirmul Committee or any individual has no scope to solve the problems. The government has to take initiative for correction. Otherwise, it would not be possible to ensure justice in time. It is hard to prove the crimes committed 43 years ago. Dr Nujahat Chowdhury daughter of martyred intellectual Dr Alim Chowdhury said the countrymen are expressing their apprehension from the very beginning over the activities of prosecution and investigating agency. The hope of the countrymen is dependent on the two organisations. The success and failure of the trial are depending on them. But already the court has raised the question over the weaknesses of prosecution and investigation agency. Many say Sayedee case is affected by the weakness of the prosecution. Besides, some prosecution lawyers allegedly made underhand dealings with the relatives of the accused persons. Efficiency of the prosecution lawyers was already questioned in the media reports. Some people think the prosecution faults are foiling the prospect of the cases. They say the government should take necessary step to boost the strength of the prosecution team. Admitting prosecution weakness and inefficiency, Syed Haider Ali, Acting Chief Prosecutor of International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) said, “The cases which I was involved with were conducted smoothly. No weakness regarding those cases was identified. Prosecutor Haider Ali was involved in conducting the Syedee case of ICT.” A senior prosecutor of the tribunal Mohammad Ali also admitted the weakness and inefficiency of the prosecution and investigation authority. He told Kaler Kontho that the trial is conducted under the new law. All prosecutors of the cases in the initial stage of the case faced some problems for conducting the trial process. But it will not influence the trial process. The tribunal delivered verdict in many cases. We received satisfactory verdict due to good condition of the prosecutors. Replying to a question he said there is no discord in the prosecution. A senior lawyer of the Supreme Court, not to be named, told Kaler Kontho, “Those who make the allegation are mainly responsible for probing the allegation,. So the prosecutors should be more capable, experienced and dynamic compared to lawyers of the defendants. Most of the prosecutors except few are proved to be less competent. The status of this court is equivalent to High Court. Most of the prosecutors of this court are practicing in the lower court though they have High Court approval.” Admitting weakness on Syedee case, Sanaul Haque, member of the investigation authority said Syedee’s case was our first case. We were facing some confusion that how we will investigate the 43 years old crime incident. For this reason some fault may have happened. Courtesy: Kaler Kantho