Video recording of International Crimes Tribunal’s daily proceedings has remained halted for the last couple of months.
People concerned about documentation of the trials term it “unfortunate” as the next generation would be deprived of the details of the historic event.
From the very beginning of the tribunal, the officials arranged facilities to keep recording of the proceedings – both audio and video – by a camera. But this is not working now. The facility is applied only for the days of announcing verdicts and special orders.
The daily activities of the two tribunals are generally recorded by officials on computer in written form. The close circuit cameras installed in court rooms and outside can take footages only.
Even prosecution expressed surprise when they came to know about the matter.
Nobody is ready to say why the recording was stopped. “It may happen due to lack of budget,” said a prosecutor, seeking anonymity. “But it is not acceptable.”
Another prosecutor said he did not know anything about this. “But if it is true, then how can we create an archive after the end of the trials?”
Prosecutor Tureen Afroz said: “As we have a system to record, then for the sake of our transparency, we should keep doing it. There is no logical ground of stopping this.”
She said: “We watched live many trials that are internationally-recognised. As it is an open court procedure, if we decide to drop this then globally we may face many unwanted questions that the opposite party raise as propaganda.”
Asked, Arunava Chakrabarty, deputy registrar of the tribunal, said he would not say anything why the recording had been stooped.
A senior official of the Special Branch of Police yesterday claimed that they had improved the recording capacity of the CCTVs installed in and outside the tribunal building. But he could not give any detail about the procedure.
After a part of the draft verdict in Salauddin Quader Chowdhury was leaked from a judge’s computer on October 1 last year, it was revealed that the CCTVs can keep records of only 12 days. Therefore, the investigators did not get any footage before September 20.
