The prosecution in the trial of Syed Md Qaiser on Wednesday started placing arguments against the former Jatiya Party MP, accusing him for his involvement in the 1971 crimes under section 3(2) of the ICT act of 1973.
Prosecutor Rana Dasgupta started placing his arguments at about 12.05 noon, right after the defence concluded cross-examining the investigation officer (IO), ASP Monowara Begum.
“At this stage we are asking the prosecution to present their arguments as the defence has not submitted any list of defence witnesses,” said Justice Obaidul Hassan, chairman of the three-member panel of International Crimes tribunal (ICT)-2.
“Qaiser was involved in the crimes as an individual or as a member of individual group siding with the Pakistan occupation army. He got involved with the politics of Muslim League following the footsteps of his father and uncle, who were local leaders of Convention Muslim League,” said advocate Dasgupta in his arguments.
“Qaiser formed a group on his name comprising 500-700 men and committed crimes against humanity during the war. He was nowhere to be found after 1971 till the brutal killings of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. After that he resurfaced and even took part in the election of 1979,” the prosecutor added.
The ICT-2 on February 2, 2014, framed 16 charges of crimes against humanity against Qaiser. A total of 32 prosecution witnesses including the IO have testified against Qaiser.
