The cousin of a victim who had been brutally tortured to death at the al-Badr camp of alleged war criminal Mir Kashem Ali during the 1971 Liberation War testified yesterday.
Hasina Khatun, 72, the 17th prosecution witness, told the International Crimes Tribunal 2 that her cousin Jasim had been tortured by al-Badr cadres led by Mir Kashem. She heard about the incident from another detainee at Daleem Hotel, the torture camp in Chittagong City.
The tribunal adjourned the proceedings until Sunday keeping her cross-examination unfinished.
She had met Jasim one day before the war began. After the war, “I started enquiring people for his whereabouts. NAP leader Shafiul Alam, who was also abducted and tortured at Daleem Hotel, told me that the al-Badr cadres led by Mir Kashem brought Jasim in bloodied and bruised condition and threw his body in the room they were locked up.”
Hasina said on Shafiul’s information she had met one Saifuddin to know about the body of Jasim. But he said there was no hope as the al-Badr members had thrown all dead bodies in Karnaphuli River.
After her deposition, defence lawyer Abu Bakar Siddique asked her a question.
The tribunal framed 14 charges against Mir Kashem, the Jamaat Executive Council member and also treasurer. Of the charges, two are related to killings and the rest are for abetting and facilitation of abduction, confinement and torture.
