Division within the prosecution team of the International Crimes Tribunal has now aggravated further regarding the trial of Jamaat-e-Islami as a political party for committing war crimes.
At a meeting on May 11, the seven-member team – dealing with the case to press formal charges against the party –was asked to hand over all documents and advance reports of the case to acting chief prosecutor Syed Haider Ali for scrutiny.
Yesterday, prosecutor Tureen Afroz, coordinator of the team dealing with the case, wrote to the chief prosecutor, not the acting chief prosecutor, and replied that the team could not hand over the materials.
In the letter, Tureen said they would wait for a decision and instructions on the matter.
All these documents are kept at the office of the Chief Prosecutor, Golam Arif Tipoo, who is now out of office. He joined office on April 30 but has not attended it since.
Some members of the team are confused over the meeting’s resolution. They think the decision was made to shift the case to other prosecutors. Some prosecutors have also questioned the legitimacy of such a resolution.
The confusion arose as a quarter of the prosecution team had been opposing the commencement of the trial, after considering its necessity and the political situation of the country. They also doubted whether it would be possible to punish Jamaat under the existing laws.
In a gazette notification on April 13, the Law Ministry made senior prosecutor Haider Ali the acting chief prosecutor. But the gazette was not withdrawn after Tipoo had joined office following treatment abroad.
Tipoo formed the team last March with Tureen as the coordinator. Five of the team members are of the additional attorney general level.
Confirming receipt of Tureen’s letter, junior prosecutor Tapas Kanti Baul said: “From now on, for everything you want to know about the case, please contact the chief prosecutor.”
Rhishikesh Saha, who issued the previous notice, told the Dhaka Tribune: “I am not sure about their final step. There was no decision on the handover of all the documents. The acting chief prosecutor wanted to check the documents to know about the status of the case.”
Tureen told the Dhaka Tribune: “We are not interested in evaluating their intention. But it is unexpected since we are already contemplating the finalisation of the formal charges very soon.
“The case against Jamaat is very sensitive and it has importance not only nationally but also globally.”
The team stopped working on the case from yesterday.
When contacted, acting chief prosecutor Haider said: “As long as I am in this position, I will try to administer everything in my way.” He also questioned the credibility of writing to the chief prosecutor in response to the meeting resolution.