More than half of the members of the war crimes tribunal’s prosecution team attended a meeting on Monday in spite of the fact that the chief prosecutor, who claimed the meeting was not announced according to proper procedure, ordered that it be called off.
At least 14 prosecutors out of 22 were present in the meeting including the chief coordinator of the team, MK Rahman. The absent prosecutors called it a “command failure” and feared that the meeting would undermine the integrity of the whole team.
On Monday, prosecutor Hrishikesh Saha issued a notice to all prosecutors including the chief prosecutor to be present at a meeting at 5pm. The agenda of the meeting included the controversy surrounding certain prosecutors as well as the status of the case.
He said: “I called the meeting with the consent of the chief coordinator. I can do it. If the chief prosecutor is not working and not sincere about his daily tasks then the team may not work in a proper way. The command may fail.”
He, however, admitted that the chief prosecutor, in a counter letter the same day, cancelled out the letter through which the meeting was called.
The prosecution has been in an awkward position for the last two weeks after Mohammad Ali, conducting lawyer in the case against Motiur Rahman Nizami, made negative comments about the whole team, particularly prosecutor Tureen Afroz, in a recent TV interview.
To resolve the situation, Chief Prosecutor Golam Arif Tipoo in a letter on Sunday said five senior members – Zead al Malum, Syed Haider Ali, Sultan
Mahmud, Mokhlesur Rahman Badal and Rana Das Gupta – would assist Ali and Tureen during the closing arguments that began on Monday.
But during the last two days, Ali continued making the arguments alone when MK Rahman, Mir Iqbal, Abul Kalam and Altaf Hossain were seated at the first row on the prosecution’s side. None of the five senior prosecutors who were required to assist were present during the proceedings, except for Malum who went to the tribunal yesterday for just a few minutes.
Tureen was present during the argument sessions. The tribunal yesterday asked her to be present at the court today if she wanted to argue in the case.
However, when the tribunal asked Ali whether any other prosecutor wanted to take part in the arguments, he mentioned Haider Ali and not Tureen.
Citing a section of the International Crimes Tribunal Act, Chief Prosecutor Tipoo told the Dhaka Tribune that the post of the prosecution’s chief coordinator was illegal. “Presence of the official has created divisions within the prosecution team.”
He was appointed through a special circular in January 2013, but Tipoo termed the appointment “unacceptable.”
Chief Coordinator MK Rahman, who is also an additional attorney general, refused to comment on the matter. He, however, said everything would be put right.
Tureen, who attended the meeting said, “I came to know about the chief prosecutor’s calling off the meeting when I already joined it.”
She refused to disclose the meeting details saying that it was an “internal issue.” She said the chief coordinator had asked her, like the chief prosecutor, to argue some legal points in the Nizami case.
Another prosecutor seeking anonymity told the Dhaka Tribune: “We are sad to observe that this type of command failure has occurred for the first time. Some 12 prosecutors have been engaged in grouping and lobbying.”
