A defence lawyer at the war crimes tribunal Thursday admitted that the auxiliary force al-Badr, which played the main role in killing of intellectuals, was formed by the pro-Jamaat student body Islami Chhatra Sangha, but argued that all Sangha members were not involved with al-Badr.
During the 1971 Liberation War, Chhatra Sangha, now Islami Chhatra Shibir, was the student wing of Jamaat-e–Islami, a key opposition ally.
Senior defence lawyer Abdur Razzaque also claimed that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that his client Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, who was also the president of East Pakistan Islami Chhatra Sangha in 1971, was a superior of the al-Badr force.
Razzaque made the remarks at the International Crimes Tribunal 2 during his submission of closing arguments in the case against Mojaheed, the Jamaat secretary general.
The tribunal set June 2 for further procedure in the case and asked the defence to end its submission by June 3.
On June 21 last year, the tribunal indicted Mojaheed on seven counts of genocide, killing of intellectuals and crimes against humanity committed during the War of Independence.
The defence lawyer claimed that his client’s name was not listed as al-Badr leader or member in any list.
Mentioning that another ICS member Ashrafuzzaman Khan’s name was listed as “al-Badr leader” in “al-Badr” book, written by one Jamaat leader and Pakistani citizen Selim Mansur Khalid, the defence lawyer said Mojaheed’s name was not in the book.
Absconding Ashrafuzzaman with Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin are facing 16 charges, particularly for their involvement in the killing of intellectuals during the war, only days before the independence on December 16.
Reading out from a document, tribunal of Justice Obaidul Hasan, Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Judge M Shahinur Islam pointed out that several ICS leaders such as Ashrafuzzaman and Jahangir were deployed as senior leaders of different al-Badr offices situated in different areas.
The tribunal also said: “Leaders of the Sangha have met Pakistani General Abdur Rahim [who played key role in forming al-Badr] before the al-Badr force was formed in 1971.
“Now, please help us in understanding how you would argue that Mojaheed was not involved in this matter? He was the president of ICS then and it is clearly said, Sangha leaders met General Abdur Rahim,” the tribunal asked.
Abdur Razzaque replied: “What you are saying is true. But my point is, according to the prosecution’s submission of documents as evidence, particularly to prove guilty my client as a leader of al-Badr, is not proved.”
The tribunal responded: “Look into the list. All of them who had met General Rahim were ICS leaders,” and asked the defence counsel to explain what common knowledge said and where it came from.
Razzaque stopped for a while, hinted by the tribunal, and then replied: “Common knowledge is something we get from books and local knowledge.”
The tribunal then said: “Exactly!”
Earlier at the same session, defence counsel Razzaque submitted that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the charge of “superior responsibility” against Mojaheed, since it only produced two documents – a photo caption published on December 11, 1971 in daily Azad and the book “al-Badr” in this regard.
“The book has not mentioned Mojaheed’s name a single time,” Razzaque said.
He, however, added that the book mentioned Mojaheed as the president of East Pakistan Chhatra Sangha. “You may say, it is my client. But my client does have a name other than his designation which was not mentioned in the al-Badr book.”
Razzaque also argued that only hearsay evidence particularly without corroborating with any other kinds of evidence was not enough to convict any person.
The tribunal was instituted to try the war crimes suspects for their involvement in crimes against humanity during the Liberation War. The first tribunal was instituted in 2010 in line with the electoral manifesto of the ruling party, Awami League, and in 2012.
