The defence Sunday claimed that fugitive war crimes suspect Chowdhury Mueen Uddin in 1971 had supported the ideology of Jamaat-e-Islami’s then student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha, but was not its leader.
State-appointed defence counsel Salma Hye also argued that the prosecution and the investigation team had failed to prove her client’s “effective involvement” in politics during the 1971 Liberation War.
While placing the closing arguments in the case against Mueen at the International Crimes Tribunal 2, the counsel said there was no evidence which could prove Mueen’s involvement in anti-liberation activities. “He was a reporter in a well-famed newspaper called daily Purbadesh back then. He used to be busy with his journalism.”
Earlier, she told the tribunal of Justice Obaidul Hasan, Justice Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Shahinur Islam that despite repeated attempts, she had failed to gather any witness for her client.
“I tried to find his [Mueen’s] relatives at his native village in Feni. I made announcement in newspapers but nobody came forward. That is why I failed to present any defence witness,” Salma said.
Fugitive accused Mueen and Ashrafuzzaman Khan were indicted jointly in 11 counts of crimes against humanity. According to the prosecution Mueen was al-Badr’s “operation-in-charge” while Ashraf played the role of “chief executor” during the war. Para militia force al-Badr was formed with the members of Chhatra Sangha.
The defence counsel also argued that there was no documentary evidence published before December 16, 1971 against Mueen implicating him with the al-Badr force.
Referring to the recent interviews of the accused broadcasted in BBC and Al-Jazeera channels, Salma said: “Mueen believed in the sovereignty of Pakistan but he did not play any role in favour of his beliefs.” The tribunal set today for further procedure of the case.
