The war crimes tribunal on Wednesday closed the defence’s closing arguments in the case against Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami and kept the case for verdict.
The three-judge International Crimes Tribunal 1 delivered the order as the defence had not appeared before the court for hartal for the fourth consecutive day.
On Tuesday, the proceedings were adjourned and the tribunal gave the defence last chance and submit their part of closing arguments that they had begun on November 7. Through junior counsels, the conducting defence lawyers on Wednesday submitted same adjournment petition on the ground of “personal difficulties.”
The tribunal in its order said: “Considering all factual and legal aspects...the defence should not be allowed any more adjournment on the same ground, and therefore, the summing up the defence case by the counsel have to concluded and the petition for adjournment rejected.”
It then gave the defence five more days to defence to submit written argument.
In a quick reaction, defence counsel Tajul Islam said they would submit a plea for review of the order and hoped to place their argument before the tribunal verbally.
When the tribunal pronounced “verdict would be any day,” Nizami, who was sitting in the dock, was curious to know what was happening. After the tribunal left the court, the junior defence counsels told him about the order and Nizami turned calm and quite.
The Jamaat chief was indicted on 16 charges of crimes against humanity including murder, rape, arson and inciting violence he had allegedly committed in Pabna and Dhaka during the 1971 Liberation War.
On the first day of their argument, defence counsel Mizanul Islam argued for the whole day claiming that during the war, Nizami had played his role as a politician not as al-Badr chief, and that the prosecution could not prove any crime of Nizami.
He also claimed that after September of 1971, Nizami had not been the chief of Islami Chhatra Sangha. He also said the statements the accused had made after that was his “political responsibility.”
Earlier, the prosecution in their closing arguments sought capital punishment for Nizami. They told the tribunal that they were grateful to the defence as they had helped the prosecution unintentionally by submitting some documents which were more accurate to establish the prosecution’s case.
The prosecution said by praising the atrocities committed by the Pakistani occupation army, Nizami in his series of public addresses (in Rangpur, Bogra, Rajshahi, Barguna and Barisal’s Bakerganj) had incited the audience to commit further offence. “And incitement has to realise with combined text and context. Nizami not only incited his men in Chhatra Sangha to commit all the heinous crimes against humanity, but he also praised the Pakistani occupation army for the same reason.”
Earlier on July 22 last year, the defence submitted a list of 10,111 witnesses. Upon objection by the prosecution, they later prayed for permission for 25 witnesses to testify for the war crimes suspect. But the tribunal approved four witnesses.
For the prosecution side, 25 people including the investigation officer gave their deposition.
