Restructuring of the war crimes tribunals and the prosecution team has been stuck in a “maybe” situation after the retirement of Justice ATM Fazle Kabir as the chairman of Tribunal 1 last month.
Proceedings in several cases at the Tribunal 1 have remained pending as the government has yet to appoint a new chairman. In this situation, everybody related with the war crimes trial is searching for answers to questions and getting no clear response from the authorities.
Justice Kabir retired on December 31 while keeping the case against Jamaat-e-Islami Chief Motiur Rahman Nizami in CAV (waiting for judgement). This resulted in confusion regarding how the verdict is to be delivered. Even the prosecutors are unclear as to whether they need to place closing arguments in the case again.
Prosecutor Mohammad Ali answered in the affirmative: “Maybe we need to argue again before the new tribunal.”
When asked about formation of the new tribunal, he said: “We may get a new chairman this week.”
About re-hearing in Nizami case, Prosecutor Tureen Afroz said: “A new judge may invite new arguments but it is not mandatory.”
Defence Counsel Tajul Islam claimed that the new chairman should hear both parties, as “he has to take part in the judgement.”
Meanwhile, the prosecution thinks some rearrangement may happen in their team, as some prosecutors have no work to do.
A source said who would get the chance to continue and who would not could not be confirmed. Those who have not conducted any case may be dropped.
Currently, there are 22 prosecutors for the six cases at the two tribunals. The team that conducted the Nizami trial now has no work and it maybe reshuffled.
Sources said some prosecutors had not conducted any cases since the formation of the tribunal in 2010 and had no involvement with cases or as researchers.
Prosecutor Shahedur Rahman said: “We are not sure about this. The prosecution always works as a team. So, 22 members are not too much.”
However, he agreed that some of the prosecutors had been inactive. “Maybe the newly-appointed officials will think about it. If the government thinks to cut or reshuffle the team, we have nothing to do.”
When asked about the appointment of a new chairman, Arunav Chakrabarty, deputy registrar of the tribunal, said: “Maybe it will happen this week or the next. The government is taking all required steps they need to.”
This month, the Tribunal 1 deferred the proceedings in cases against Mobarak Hossain, Zahidul Islam alias Khokon Razakar and two contempt cases. Everybody is assuming that the government may appoint a new chairman before the next hearing date, set for January 24.
