The sensational trial involving the murder of Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella in Dhaka in 2015 may end soon, as the court may start hearing the arguments in November.
The investigation officer, Inspector Zehad Hossain, has already given his statement in the court of Metropolitan Sessions Judge Mohammad Ash-Sams Jaglul Hossain.
The defence was set to cross-examine him on September 12, but the proceedings were suspended after a key accused, BNP leader and former ward councillor MA Qaiyum, surrendered and sought bail.
The court set November 10 for the cross-examination of the IO. After that, the prosecution and the defence will start closing arguments in the case.
The IO started giving his testimony as the 40th prosecution witness on February 16, 2020, but the trial was delayed due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Prosecutor Taposh Kumar Paul hopes to get justice in the verdict. On the other hand, the defence lawyers pointed at discrepancies in the case, which they allege was filed to harass political opponents.
Tavella, 51, then a project manager of Profitable Opportunities for Food Security (Proofs), a project of the Netherlands-based organization ICCO Cooperation, was gunned down by some assailants on the pavement of Road No. 90 in Gulshan-2 on September 28, 2015.
After the murder, the Middle East-based Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, but the government dismissed the claim and blamed a new offshoot of the banned militant group, Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), for the attack. The IS also claimed responsibility for over two dozen fatal attacks carried out against religious minorities and foreigners, including the grisly attack on Holey Artisan Bakery in the capital in 2016.
On October 25, 2016, a Dhaka court set the trial in motion after the framing of charges against seven accused, including BNP leader MA Qaiyum and his brother MA Matin. The five other accused are Tamjid Ahmed alias Rubel, Russel Chowdhury, Minhajul Arefin alias Bhaigna Russel, Sakhawat Hossain and Bhangari Sohel.
Of the accused, Qaiyum and Matin are now on bail, Sohel is on the run, while the rest of the accused are now behind bars.
The prosecutor told Bangla Tribune that the prosecution had tried to complete the trial in the earliest possible time, but the defence lawyers wasted time. They delayed the trial by submitting various applications. Moreover, the witnesses did not appear in court in time.
Defence lawyer Syed Nazrul Islam termed the case false and politically motivated, which is why the police made mistakes in pressing the charges.
“The trial remained stuck for long upon a government directive since it knew the court would acquit all the accused in its verdict. The forensic report does not match the seized weapon and bullet,” he said.
The lawyer added that the police gleaned confessions from the accused, threatening them with death. The versions of the Detective Branch of police and the Rapid Action Battalion are also different.
Four of the accused sought bail in September, but the court rejected the prayers. "The country has been re-liberated. We hope that the accused will get justice now. They will be acquitted.”
Another defence lawyer SM Shawkat Hossain Mia said many of the accused are not involved in politics but have been implicated in the case for various reasons.
What the case says
On June 28, 2016, DB police submitted the charge sheet against the seven. During the investigation, five arrestees confessed to the killing in court.
According to the charge sheet, the then Dhaka city BNP’s joint convener, Qaiyum, planned the murder as part of a conspiracy to create anarchy in the country, put pressure on the government, and send a message to foreigners that they were not safe in Bangladesh.
Qaiyum’s brother Abdul Matin coordinated the murder, hiring three killers to murder a “white man” (foreigner). Tavella became their prey. Sohel supplied the firearms, while Sharif provided the motorcycle used in the killing.
On September 28, 2015, on the instructions of the accused, Matin, Minhajul, Tamjid and Russell went to Road No. 90 of Gulshan 2. Tamjid shot down Caesar Tavella in a quiet and dark place on the sidewalk outside the boundary wall of the governor's house on that road, according to the charge sheet.
What we know about Tavella
The Italian citizen was apparently a loner. He used to go jogging every morning, would come back home, change, and leave for work. He usually came back home again late at night. He never cooked and always bought his dinner on his way home. Sometimes he would order home delivery from restaurants such as Pizza Hut.
Since coming to Bangladesh in May of the same year, he had been living in a rented flat on Road No. 54/51 in Gulshan 2. His last workplace was Oxfam in Italy.
Cesare Tavella earned a degree in veterinary medicine from the Veterinary Fecundity of Rolanga University in Italy in 1991. Besides Italian, he also spoke English, Spanish and French. He had visited more than 12 countries, including the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Sudan, South Korea and Tunisia.
He entered the development sector in 1993 and had been managing food security, rural development and livelihood projects for different NGOs mainly in Asia.
From November 1996 until May 1998, he collaborated with New Earth as a veterinarian in Somalia and Somaliland, proving to be a key element in the group of veterinarians.
