The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 yesterday set October 12 to pass order whether to frame charges against five alleged Razakars from Kishoreganj, or not.
The five accused are- Gazi Abdul Mannan, 88, Nasiruddin Ahmed, 62, Shamsuddin Ahmed, 60, Hafiz Uddin, 66, and Azharul Islam, 60.
The ICT-1 set the date as both prosecution and defence concluded charge framing hearing yesterday morning. Yesterday the tribunal appointed advocate Abdus Shukur Khan as the counsel to defend Shamsuddin as M Atiqur Rahman rejected to move for the accused before the court anymore.
Khan, who was already defending the four other accused in the trial, submitted a discharge petition for Shamsuddin, only accused in the police custody right now, saying the accused was merely a 13-year-old-boy during the War of Liberation and it was not possible for him to kill a person at that very young age.
The prosecution on May 10 submitted the formal charge against the accused, bringing seven specific charges of crimes against humanity.
The charges are- killing of eight people and injuring of another four villagers on November 12; killing of Miah Hossain of Aila village on November 13; abduction and killing of Abdur Gafur of Kalatali on September 26; abduction, torture and killing of Fazlur Rahman of Atkapara on August 23; killing of Paresh Chandra Sarkar of Ramnagar on September 7; torture and killing of Abu Bakar Siddique and Rapali on August 25; and arson and vandalism in Atkapara on September 15.
On May 13, the tribunal took the charges into cognizance. According to the prosecution, the accused had carried out gruesome crimes against humanity in Bidyanagar, Aila, Fatergup Beel, Piraton Beel and adjacent areas under Karimganj upazila of Kishoreganj in 1971.
