BSS, Dhaka :
Two new prosecution witnesses (PWs) on Tuesday testified in the trial of Jamaat leader Mir Quasem Ali, charged for committing crimes against humanity during the War of Liberation.
Nazim Uddin and Md Hasan submitted their depositions as PW-11 and 12 respectively at the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-2. Nazim, 57, in his deposition said he along with his uncles and cousins were picked up by Al-Badr cadres on November 30, 1971, and taken to the infamous Dalim Hotel. “There I got to know that Mir Quasem was the leader of that camp and learned about the immense torture that captives were going through. Luckily I was set free by Mir Quasem as my father requested him to do so,” the witness said.
On the other hand, PW-12, Md Hasan said he along with his father and some other neighbours were nabbed by the Al-Badr cadres led by Mir Quasem on November 29, 1971 and taken to the front of NMC High School in Chandgaon, Chittagong. “There two trucks were waiting to take us away. But luckily they set me and my father free from there along with one other. The others were taken to Al-Badr camp in Dalim Hotel in Chittagong city’s Andarkilla area,” Hasan said. “The people who were picked up on that day were freed on December 16, 1971. But they were tortured by their captors in the Dalim Hotel and I saw wound mark on their bodies,” he added. After his deposition, he was cross-examined by Advocate Mizanul Islam, counsel for Quasem, and the tribunal adjourned the hearing till March 3.
Meanwhile, the ICT-2 on Tuesday expelled a counsel for Jamaat leader Mir Quasem Ali from the courtroom as he found to be trying to dictate his senior time and again and hampering the proceedings in this way.
At one stage of the proceedings as PW-11, Nazim Uddin was cross-examined by Advocate Mizanul Islam, senior and conducting counsel for Mir Quasem, Advocate Hasanul Banna Shohag was seen trying to dictate his senior.
Advocate Mizanul too was seen trying to stop his junior several times but at one point the tribunal reacted sharply. Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah ordered him to go out of the courtroom, though Advocate Mizanul Islam promptly sought mercy on behalf of his junior.
The tribunal also ordered another defence counsel Barrister Mir Ahmed Binquasem, also the son of the accused, to move out of the first row of seats to the second as he was found breaking into laughter breaking the norms of court, at an answer of the PW.
The ICT-1 on August 29, 2013, framed a total of fourteen charges of crimes against humanity against Mir Quasem.
Later, the trial was shifted from ICT-1 to ICT-2 for quick disposal. Mir Quasem was arrested on June 17, 2012 from daily Naya Diganta office in the city’s Motijheel area and is now kept at Kashimpur High Security Jail.
