The trial proceedings in the August 21, 2004, grenade attack cases are in the final stage and will likely be wrapped up by the end of next month, the law minister and prosecutors have said.
A total of 24 people including Ivy Rahman were killed, and more than 300 others were injured, when militants launched the explosive attack on an Awami League rally in Dhaka.
The then opposition leader, Sheikh Hasina, survived the attack but still suffers from a serious hearing impairment.
Recalling the attack with a heavy heart on the eve of today’s 14th anniversary, Chief Prosecutor in the cases Syed Rezaur Rahman accused the defence teams of employing various delaying tactics to lengthen the trial procedure.
“Otherwise, we would have got the verdicts by this month,” he said. “We are giving all out efforts to complete the trial in the cases in quickest possible time.”
Two cases - one filed for murder and the other under the Explosive Substances Act - are currently being heard by Judge Shahed Nuruddin of Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal 1, which was set up at a building near the gate of old Dhaka Central Jail.
Abdus Sobhan Torfador, one of the defence counsels, rejected the accusations of the chief prosecutor, saying: “We are not wasting time. We are just placing arguments on behalf of our clients.”
Law Minister Anisul Huq said the verdicts may be issued by September, and said the long timeline was because the trials are being conducted in strict adherence to the laws of the country.
“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina could issue the death penalty to the August 21 grenade attackers after a short trial within three days by forming a special tribunal,” he said during a program at the National Press Club on Sunday.
“But she did not do that and has waited for 14 years for the verdict.”
At Sunday’s event - which was organized by the 21 August Bangladesh support forum for the family members of the victims - speakers reiterated that the only way the bereaved families will find closure is by getting justice.
“We want quick completion of the trial and ensure proper punishment of the plotters and attackers,” Former Dhaka University vice-chancellor Prof Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique, also the chairman of the forum, said.
Final submissions
Counsels involved in the two cases told the Dhaka Tribune that lawyers for 44 of the 49 accused have so far placed their arguments before the court.
At present, lawyers for the former BNP junior home minister Lutfozzaman Babar are placing their arguments, which will be concluded on August 27, 28 and 29.
Because the court did not appoint lawyers for the remaining four people accused, the arguments in all the cases will be completed with the final submissions from Babar’s lawyers.
Thereafter, the court will hear brief submissions from the prosecutors - who are seeking maximum penalty for the accused - before fixing a date for the delivery of its verdicts.
Legal experts said after the trial court verdicts, the accused will get the opportunity to challenge the judgement in the High Court and the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in phases.
This means that there is still a long way to go to complete the trial conclusively, they said.
Militants ‘collaborated with senior officials’
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) pressed charges against 22 people on June 11, 2008.
They included Mufti Hannan, the leader of the Bangladesh chapter of militant outfit Harkat-ul Jihad-al-Islami, and former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu.
After the Awami League came to power, the prosecution successfully filed a petition with the Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal 1 in June 2009 for further investigation to identify the grenade suppliers and financiers of the attack.
In March 2011, the tribunal started trying 52 people accused in the two cases filed with Motijheel police station.
In the charge sheet, investigators claimed the militant group Huji and a group of influential BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami leaders had collaborated with a section of senior officials of the Home Ministry, police, Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), National Security Intelligence (NSI) and Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
According to the charge sheet, the attack was devised by a cohort comprised of Babar, the then state home minister; Harris Chowdhury, the political secretary to the then prime minister Khaleda Zia; Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed, the then secretary general of Jamaat; Brig Gen. Abdur Rahim, the then NSI director general; and Brig Gen Rezzaqul Haider Chowdhury, the then DGFI Director.
Prosecution witnesses said Huji leaders met BNP leader Tarique Rahman a few days before the attack and got the go-ahead to carry out the grenade blasts.
According to case dockets, the previous investigators during the BNP-Jamaat regime were trying to divert the probe in order to protect the real culprits.
Media reports also brought to public attention the cooked-up story of Joj Mia by the then CID officials to derail the investigation.
Before the start of the placing of arguments on October 23 last year, the court recorded the statements of 225 out of 511 prosecution witnesses and the depositions of 20 defence witnesses.
Of the 52 people accused in the two cases, three have since been executed in other cases.
Of the remaining 49 accused, 18 - including BNP Senior Vice Chairman Tarique - are being tried in absentia.
Twenty three others, including Babar and Pintu, are in jail while eight are on bail.
