The first prosecution witness in the case against alleged al-Badr leader Mir Kashem Ali yesterday told the International Crimes Tribunal 2 how the accused and his fellow collaborators had tortured freedom fighters at Daleem Hotel in Chittagong City and confined many others until the independence of Bangladesh.
He said the accused had helped the Pakistani occupation forces to commit atrocities and crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.
Freedom fighter Syed Mohammad Eamran, 61, of Chandgaon, Chittagong completed his deposition in the afternoon. He joined the war as co-fighter under resistance committee formed after March 25, 1971.
The accused, a senior Jamaat-e-Islami leader and key financier of the party, was sitting in the dock during the one and a half hours proceedings.
Following his testimony, junior defence counsel Abu Bakkar Siddique began cross-examination of the witness as his senior colleague was not present. The questioning remained incomplete and the tribunal set December 29 for further proceedings.
The formal trial began on November 18 with the prosecution placing opening statement. Mir Kashem is facing 14 charges of crimes against humanity committed in Chittagong.
The witness said at early morning on November 30, 1971, “under the leadership of Mir Kashem, al-Badr members surrounded our house and captured me with five cousins. They took us to NN School and beat us mercilessly. They also captured Golam Ali, Zakaria from Nazibari and Eskander Chowdhury. They blindfolded us, tied our hands and took us to Daleem Hotel which was known as the torture cell of Mir Kashem.”
He claimed that the collaborators had give them electric shock and different other equipment. “They would stop only when I lost consciousness.”
At that time, he met Mir Kashem who wanted to know about the arms, training and information about position of freedom fighters.
The witness earlier said the accused was his classmate at school while former minister Afsarul Amin and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal MP Mainuddin Khan Badal were also in their class.
Eamran said he used to eat burnt mud at the kitchen during the confinement. He told, after December 15, “nobody came to us and there was no sound of boots. On December 16 morning, Dastagir, brother of Jahangir Chowdhury, rescued us. We were more than one hundred and I could identify Nasiruddin from Patia [now works as journalist].”
After the cross-examination, both the prosecution and the defence pleaded for documents from each other. The tribunal then ordered to exchange the documents by December 17