Trial may end this year

The victims of the gruesome August 21 grenade attack incident are yet to get justice as the trial of the cases have not been completed in 12 years. In August 2014, the prosecution had said the trial might be finished hopefully by next August, and as it approached, they said it would take one more year. However, yesterday, they hoped that the trial would be finished by December this year. “... Our goal has not been fulfilled completely, but we have achieved it partly,” Syed Rezaur Rahman, chief counsel of the cases, told the Dhaka Tribune Thursday. He said that deposition recording and cross-examination of 223 witnesses, out of 491, have been completed. After the depositions, the defence may produce witnesses and then the final arguments will take place before pronouncement of the verdict. Two cases were filed in connection with the blasts – one under the Explosive Substances Act and the other for the 24 murders. The cases are running in parallel. Rejecting assumptions that the trial would end soon, Rezaur said: “The trial is going on smoothly to provide justice. This type of assumption is thus irrational.” He claimed that the prosecution was trying their best to conclude the trial by this year. Rezaur also blamed the then BNP-Jamaat government for staging Joj Miah drama to divert the incident for the delay. Besides, the further investigation process took more than a year. Moreover, several accused in the case were also facing trials in some sensational cases. They needed to be produced before different courts in those cases and it consumed much time, he added. The state counsel also blamed the defence counsels for the delay in the process. “The accused moved the High Court with petitions regarding the trial process five times. A total of 294 working days were spent there. Lawyers of 52 accused cross examined every prosecution witness, which is also a lengthy process,” he said. The lawyer claimed that the prosecution had no fault that could slow down the process. One of the defence lawyers Mohammad Ali, however, claimed that that state had produced a huge number of witnesses and “some of them are useless, which is causing the delay.” The grenade attack was launched in 2004 on an anti-terrorism rally organised by the Awami League on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital. Then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina had just ended addressing the rally and the activists were getting ready to bring out a procession when the grenades were hurled. Although Hasina narrowly escaped death, at least 24 people including then the chief of AL’s women wing Ivy Rahman – also wife of late president Zillur Rahman – were killed and over 200 others injured in the attack. Later, investigations revealed the involvement of Hawa Bhaban, former political office of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, different militant organisations and the administration in planning and executing the attack. The then government first blamed Awami League for staging a drama by carrying out the attack. Some ministers and lawmakers even pointed fingers at India. The then police administration had attempted to implicate a very poor Jamal Ahmed, also known as Joj Mia, in 2005 and claimed with accomplishment that he was one of the masterminds behind the attack launched by notorious Seven Start Group. In several months after the much-talked-about arrest, media first discovered that it was an attempt to victimise a wrong person to hide the real perpetrators. In June 2008, the CID pressed charges against BNP leader Abdus Salam Pintu, militants outfit HujiB’s chief Mufti Abdul Hannan and 20 others in the cases. After indictment, the trial began the same year. After the Awami League formed government in 2009, a further investigation was conducted and in July, 2011 the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted the supplementary charge sheet against 30 people. The names of BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman, former state minister Lutfozzaman Babar, Harris Chowdhury and Jamaat leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed were included in the charge sheet. On March 18, 2012, the court framed charges against Tarique and others. Mujaheed has been hanged to death in a war crimes case and was exempted from the charges recently. Of the accused, Tarique and 18 others have been absconding and 24 others, including Babar, are now in jail. Eight others are out on bail. The government is working to bring back some fugitive accused from abroad.