The war crimes tribunal yesterday expressed dissatisfaction over the defence counsel Mizanul Islam wrongly cross examining the investigation officer in the case of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Maulana Abdus Subhan.
Saying that the counsel was breaching restrictions put up by the Supreme Court on placing contradictions in testimonies, the three-member International Crimes Tribunal 2 also warned him of imposing fines for annoying the court.
The defence then said they would submit a written petition on the matter. The tribunal said: “This is very annoying to get the same plea whereas we rejected it earlier.”
When Mizanul mentioned that the petition had been filed in another case, the tribunal reacted strongly: “Why are you pressing for it? We solved the matter earlier. We will fine you for this. It is annoying.”
In the judgement on hung war criminal Abdul Quader Molla, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court imposed a restriction on taking contradiction between the statement of prosecution witnesses recorded by the investigation officer and the testimony of the witness at the tribunal.
During the cross-examination of second Investigation Officer M Noor Hossain, the tribunal also repeatedly asked the defence to refrain from asking questions on factual aspects.
The tribunal adjourned the cross-examination until today.
