UNB, Dhaka :The International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Tuesday rescheduled September 4 for delivering judgment on the contempt-of-court charge faced by the Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based global rights body, and its two officials, for publishing a ‘scandalous’ report on its judgment.The three-member tribunal, headed by Justice M Enayetur Rahim, passed the order, as it could not finalise the judgment on time.Earlier, the tribunal on May 25 fixed the date for pronouncing the judgment after hearing both sides.Advocate M Asaduzzaman, the counsel for HRW, who contested the contempt case, appeared in the tribunal while the contempt-petitioner, the prosecution, did not turn up. The tribunal expressed its dissatisfaction with the stance of the prosecution.After a month of pronouncing the judgment sentencing Jamaat-e- Islami ameer (retired) Ghulam Azam to 90 years’ imprisonment for crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971, the HRW on August 16, 2013 released a report onits website, headlined ‘Bangladesh: Azam conviction based on flawed proceedings: Analysis outlines how fair trial rights of accused seriously compromised’. The report claims that the trial of the former Jamaat-e-Islami boss was deeply flawed and it had not met the international standards.It says: “The judges improperly conducted an investigation on behalf of the prosecution and expressed concern over collusion and bias among prosecutors and judges.”
