Staff Reporter:
The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 yesterday sent 15 officials of the Bangladesh Army to jail, showing them arrested in two cases lodged over enforced disappearances and torture at the Taskforce for Interrogation (TFI) Cell and the Joint Interrogation Cell (JIC) during the Awami League regime and in one case filed over the July Mass Uprising killing.
The 15 accused are- Md Jahangir Alam, Tofayel Mostafa Sarwar, Md Qamrul Hasan, Md Mahabub Alam, KM Azad, Abdullah Al Momen, Md Moshiur Rahman Jewel, Saiful Islam Suman, Md Sarwar Bin Qashem, Mohammad Redwanul Islam, Rafat Bin Alam, Sheikh Md Sarwar Hossain, Md Mahbubur Rahman Siddiqui, and Ahmed Tanvir Mazhar Siddiqui.
The first tribunal, led by its Chairman Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, passed the order this morning.
The court also ordered publication of notices in one English and one Bengali newspaper, asking the fugi-tive accused in the three cases to appear before it to face trial.
It adjourned till November 20 the hearing of the two cases filed over enforced disappearances and tor-ture at the TFI and JIC, and set November 5 for the next hearing in the case filed over a killing in the city’s Rampura area during the July Mass Uprising.
ICT Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam appeared for the prosecution, while Barrister Md Sarwar Hossain argued for the defence.
The plainclothed accused were brought to the tribunal by a specialized prison van around 7:15am amid heightened security around the court premises. A large number of personnel from police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Armed Police Battalion (APBN) were deployed in and around the tribunal area.
The accused were brought down from the prison van one by one and escorted to the tribunal by police personnel, with cops positioned on each side.
They were taken back from the tribunal at around 10 am.
Meanwhile, Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam said that the Bangladesh Army extended full co-operation in ‘detaining and producing’ before the tribunal the army officials accused in the cases over enforced disappearances and crimes against humanity committed during the July-August Mass Uprising.
“Yesterday, those who were produced before the tribunal were arrested and placed on trial with the sin-cere efforts of law enforcement agencies. The Bangladesh Army – whom we regard as the guardians of the country’s sovereignty- have also extended their cooperation to the judicial process,” the chief prose-cutor said.
Defence counsel Barrister M Sarwar Hossain, while talking to newsmen, said the accused will be taken to a sub-jail inside the cantonment.
“I have learned that they will be taken to the sub-jail in the cantonment,” he said.
Earlier, on October 8, the ICT-1 took cognizance of charges against 30 accused, including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, in two cases filed over enforced disappearances and torture.
The prosecution brought five charges in one case against 13 people, including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her former security and defence adviser Tarique Ahmed Siddique, over crimes com-mitted at the JIC.
The other accused in that case are- Md Akbar Hossain, Md Saiful Abedin, Md Saiful Alam, Md Tabrej Shams Chowdhury, Hamidul Haque, Mohammad Touhidul Islam, Sheikh Md Sarwar Hossain, Kabir Ahammed, Md Mahbubur Rahman Siddiqui, Ahmed Tanvir Mazhar Siddiqui and Mokhchurul Haque
Another five charges were brought against 17 people, including Sheikh Hasina and Tarique Ahmed Sid-dique, over crimes committed at the TFI.
The other accused in that case are-former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, former inspector general of police Benazir Ahmed, M Khurshid Hossain, Barrister Md Harun Ur Rashid, Anwar Latif Khan, Md Jahangir Alam, Tofayel Mostafa Sarwar, KM Azad, Md Qamrul Hasan, Md Mahabub Alam, Abdullah Al Momen, Md Sarwar Bin Qashem, Md Khairul Islam, Md Moshiur Rahman Jewel and Sai-ful Islam Suman.
