The prosecution in the war crimes tribunal Thursday said detained Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed played a key role in committing atrocities, particularly in killing of intellectuals in 1971.
Placing last day’s closing arguments on law points, prosecutor Tureen Afroze called Mojaheed, secretary general of Jamaat, a “superior civilian leader” who directed the al-Badr force to kill the most meritorious citizens of Bangladesh in 1971.
The prosecution also said Mojaheed was a “villain” of the Liberation War.
Setting May 22 for the start of defence counsel’s closing argument, the International Crimes Tribunal 2 headed by Justice Obaidul Hasan asked the defence to complete its submission in three days (May 22, 26 and 27).
The other two judges of the tribunal are Justice Mozibur Rahman Miah and Judge M Shahinur Islam.
The first tribunal was instituted in 2010 to try war crimes suspects from the Liberation War. A second tribunal was established in 2012 to speed up the trial process.
In her closing arguments, Tureen referred to several news items published in different broadsheets.
She particularly mentioned a report published on October 31, 2010 in Bhorer Kagoj, a Bengali daily. The report was extracted from a news item run in the Daily Sangram in April 1971.
The report quoted Mojaheed as saying, “Wherever there are muktibahini [freedom fighters], al-Badr will be there. Al-Badr will play the role of Azrael (an Islamic term meaning angel of death).”
The reports clearly pointed out superior responsibility of Mojaheed in committing crimes against humanity such as genocide, Tureen said.
She read from several books – Ekatturer Ghatok Dalalera Ke Kothai (Where Are the Collaborators of 1971?) written by pro-liberationists, and Al-Badr, written by a Pakistani Jamaat leader.
Quoting from the book Al-Badr, Tureen told the tribunal that Mojaheed was the leader of the al-Badr, an auxiliary force that helped Pakistan occupation army during war.
“He was not only the formal leader of the force but he also had informal relations with the members of al-Badr. Thus, all members of al-Badr were obedient to Mojaheed and they did whatever Mojaheed asked them to do,” Tureen said.
Tureen also referred to prosecution witnesses depositions, saying they were enough to prove the “villainous character of Mojaheed.”
A total of 17 prosecution witnesses have so far testified against Mojaheed.
On May 5, the sole defence witness, Mohaheed’s son, Ali Ahmad Mabrur, testified on behalf of Mojaheed, after the defence counsel Munshi Ahsan Kabir told the tribunal that the defence side would place only one witness.
On June 21 last year, the ICT-2 indicted Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed on seven counts of genocide, killing of intellectuals and crimes against humanity committed during the War of Independence in 1971.
