7-murder case APP transferred

The recent order to transfer an additional public prosecutor of a Narayanganj court engaged in the sensational seven-murder case has created fresh controversy. The plaintiff of the case, wife of slain panel mayor Nazrul Islam, has also expressed concern over the alleged understanding between the prosecution and the defence lawyers to save the key accused – expelled Awami League leader Nur Hossain. Additional public prosecutor KM Fazlur Rahman was transferred on April 13 based on an order issued by the public prosecutor of the court, SM Wazed Ali Khokon, who the plaintiff allege, has good ties with Nur Hossain. Nazrul’s wife Selina Islam Beauty recently filed a petition to change the public prosecutor in the case alleging that he had taken benefits from the accused. Lawyer Fazlur was dealing with some extortion and arms cases filed against Nur Hossain. He has now been transferred to the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court from the Additional District and Sessions Judge’s Court. According to the court sources, Fazlur is known as an efficient prosecutor in Narayanganj. The courts gave capital punishment in over 70 cases he had dealt with in the last five years. He was also looking into the two cases filed over bomb attack on an Awami League office that killed 20 persons. Asked why Fazlur was transferred in a hurry, Wazed said: “We need an efficient lawyer at the chief judicial magistrate court.” Fazlur thinks that the public prosecutor can transfer any lawyer to any court as per the law. Several lawyers have also questioned the appointment of 94 assistant prosecutors to the Narayanganj court in November last year. Selina’s lawyer Shakhawat Hossain said: “We have long been demanding a fair trial in the case since the accused including Nur Hossain are very influential and the ruling party-backed people are trying to save the accused. “But as the government has appointed 94 assistant public prosecutors against 14 posts and most of them are not efficient, we think that it will ultimately benefit the accused. We will observe the trial proceedings few more days and then decide our next course of action.” Earlier, the trial proceedings came under criticisms for not conducting further investigation, as demanded by the plaintiff, as the police had filed the charge sheet before the arrest of Nur Hossain. Police also did not seek remand of the former Awami League leader. Moreover, the media persons have been kept out of the court during the proceedings while Nur Hossain and other accused recently threatened the prosecution witnesses in open court. Petition for PP’s withdrawal Plaintiff of the case Selina filed a petition with the superintendent of police and the district’s deputy commissioner on March 22 urging that the public prosecutor be relieved from the seven-murder case. The letter says that Wazed Ali is a close friend of Nur Hossain. “He misguided me during my deposition in the court on several occasions after taking bribes from Nur Hossain and sacked RAB officer Tarek Sayeed Mahmud. He also forbade me not to disclose the name of Nur Hossain. “On March 21, he [Wazed] influenced the depositions of witnesses Abul Kalam Azad, Jahangir Alam Tipu and Fakhrul Islam to save several accused. He has developed good ties with the defence lawyers and often gossips with the accused in open court.” On the other hand, in another letter written to the home secretary, Selina termed Wazed Ali unskilled and inefficient. “He has been financially benefited from seven-murder case accused Nur Hossain and Tarek Sayeed. He has been creating confusion among the prosecution witnesses so that their statements benefit the accused.” Wazed, however, has refuted the allegations as baseless. “The plaintiff is spreading propaganda against me for some other reasons,” he claimed.