Towhid Reza Noor, son of journalist Siraj Uddin Hossain who was killed by al-Badr members, testified against two fugitive war crimes suspects Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan.
In his deposition, the sixth prosecution witness told the tribunal that in his research, he had found Mueen and Ashraf's complicity in the killing of intellectuals in December 1971.
Towhid, also the founding general secretary of Projonmo Ekattor (Generation 1971), said he started research on the Liberation War in 1995, particularly while working for a documentary titled "War Crime Files."
The witness said he interviewed some eye witnesses of the atrocities the al-Badr force had committed and that those people told him about Mueen and Ashraf. The witnesses include Dolly Chowdhury (sister-in-law of martyred Prof Mofazzal Haider Chowdhury), Atiqur Rahman (deceased), ANM Golam Rahman (brother of martyred journalist ANM Golam Mostafa) and Delwar Hossain (the only survivor of the Rayerbazar mass killing).
"All of the aforementioned persons told me that Mueen Uddin was directly involved in the killing of intellectuals in 1971 as the 'operation in-charge'. Deceased Atiqur Rahman told me that Ashrafuzzaman played the role of 'chief executor' of the al-Badr force," he said.
Both the accused were allegedly involved in the killing of 18 intellectuals including Shahidullah Kaiser and Selina Parvin. Among the 18 murdered intellectuals, nine were Dhaka University teachers, six were journalists and three were physicians, according to the probe report of the prosecution.
"During my research and as I grew up, I have come to understand that the intellectuals were killed because they were active in spreading the light of Bangalee nationalism, which is the basis of the country named Bangladesh," he told the tribunal of Justice Obaidul Hasan, Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Judge M Shahinur Islam.
The two accused are facing 16 charges of crimes against humanity that include genocide, killing, looting and arson.
Towhid, who was only a three-year-old child when he lost his father, also submitted in the tribunal that his mother Nurjahan Siraji and elder brother Shahin Reza Noor shared the "last journey" of his father many times.
"On December 10, 1971, there was a blackout in Dhaka that night. Around 12:30 am, some people covering their faces with masks, caps and towels came too our house and knocked on the door. At one point, my father opened the door but there was nobody. Later, my elder brother Shahin heard our landlord calling for him [his father]," he said.
"When my brother Shahin opened the door, he saw our landlord, his two sons and brother-in-law standing in front of the door and a few guns were pointed at them by the masked people," Towhid added.
He said those masked people using both Urdu and Bangla asked for identity. "Some of them entered into my father's room and told him, 'Hands up.'
"They asked my father to show his identity. When he did, they asked him to go with them. At gun point, my mother and brothers, who were following my father, were asked to go inside his room. My father was taken away bare foot and blindfolded," Towhid told the tribunal.
He said they eventually came to know that journalist Nazmul Haque, Nizam Uddin Ahmed, Shahidullah Kaiser, ANM Golam Mostafa, Selina Parvin, Prof Gias Uddin Ahmed and Munier Chowdhury were picked up from their houses in the same way.
Towhid also said on December 18, 1971 his relatives went to the Rayerbazar killing ground to look for the body of Siraj Uddin. "But they could not identify my father's body from all those decomposed bodies," he added pleading justice for the killing of his father and the other intellectuals.
