The war crimes tribunal has allowed the defence team of accused Mobarak Hossain to produce three witnesses to defend his client.
The defence yesterday pleaded to the International Crimes Tribunal 1 for allowing 12 witnesses to ensure equality and justice as the prosecution had produced the same number of witnesses.
On Monday, the defence ended cross examining the investigation officer of the case. The tribunal then decided to record testimonies of defence witnesses from December 1.
Prosecutor Md Shahidur Rahman yesterday said the defence had no responsibility to prove the case. He cited that the defence had not mentioned which witness to testify according to the charges. “This does not satisfy the requirement of the law.”
He said the defence should be allowed to place one witness for fair trials.
The tribunal on April 23 indicted Mobarak on five charges of crimes against humanity he had allegedly committed in Brahmanbaria in 1971.
Meanwhile, the same tribunal yesterday adjourned the contempt hearing against barrister Fakhrul Islam, lawyer for convicted war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, till December 12.
Fakhrul is detained in a case filed for leaking the tribunal’s verdict. His junior lawyer Tariqul Islam submitted at the tribunal that so they needed time to respond to the notice. He added that the accused had already sought unconditional apology to the tribunal.
Tariqul also said lawyer Zainul Abedin would represent Fakhrul.
The notice was issued on January 14 for allegedly demeaning the tribunal’s dignity.